There has been a lot of late hype surrounding Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen potentially falling to the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles at No. 32 overall in next week’s draft.
Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Media’s lead draft analyst and a former member of Howie Roseman’s scouting staff, isn’t buying it.
“I would say it’s unlikely that he falls that low,” Jeremiah responded to Philadelphia Eagles On SI during his annual pre-draft video conference call. “He’s just too explosive, and in a passing league, I can’t see him getting there.”
However, Jeremiah did note that Nolen to the Eagles wouldn’t be the first time the league allowed a talented player to fall into the lap of the reigning Super Bowl champions.
“If you had asked me if Nolan Smith would get there [No. 30 in 2023], I would’ve said no," Jeremiah said. "If you would have asked me if Cooper DeJean was going to be there in the second round [No. 40 in 2024], I would’ve said no.
“You always prepare for it, and you can always be pleasantly surprised of who falls.”
Nolen is incredibly gifted, a consensus five-star recruit and the top-ranked defensive lineman in 2022. Overall, he was No. 2 in the country behind Colorado star Travis Hunter, who ironically could be the No. 2 overall pick in the draft next week.
Nolen had offers from just about every major college program before committing to Texas A&M as the headliner of what was hyped as the "best recruiting class ever" when Jimbo Fisher nailed down eight different five-star recruits.
After two seasons at A&M, Nolen was the top-rated prospect in the transfer portal after deciding to move on when Fisher was fired. He landed at Ole Miss and put together a consensus All-American season.
Nolen also played in Pete Golding's 4-2-5 base scheme, which requires the front to play with similar mechanics and an overall philosophy close to what Vic Fangio does in Philadelphia. The fit for the Eagles is obvious after losing Milton Williams to a $26 million AAV deal in free agency.
To Jeremiah, though, Nolen is just too gifted to fall all the way to the Eagles.
“I would not anticipate that he would drop that far. If he went in the top 15, I wouldn’t be shocked,” Jeremiah said. “That one would surprise me if he made it all the way down there.”
Like most, however, Jeremiah expects this to be a trenches draft in Philadelphia.
“In terms of the Eagles and where they could look, I imagine in [GM] Howie [Roseman's] office, you just gather the offensive staff and the defensive staff, and they’re just lobbying for which offense or defensive lineman they’d love to have at that point in time,” he joked.
From a strategy standpoint, Jeremiah believes the well-regarded Roseman is more likely to zig when the crowd is zagging.
“I think there are a lot of teams in this draft that would like to go in reverse,” Jeremiah said. “And the Eagles could be one of the few teams that would really be willing to put their foot on the gas, and go get somebody.”
And that somebody could be Nolen or another explosive option off the edge in Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart.
“Where they are as a team, and the roster, you go through and look at it, they’re in pretty good shape,” Jeremiah said. “They have a ton of picks. I think they have 12 picks next year. So, they could be a team – you’re always looking at teams that could move back. They could be a team – say it’s Walter Nolen who’s there – maybe that’s someone they would be aggressive (for) and move up.
“I wouldn’t sleep on Shemar Stewart as an explosive player that they could use and fit. And if he starts to drop, they could go up and get him.”
