The Cardinals draft Walter Nolen, a defensive tackle who’s still learning just how good he can be

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TEMPE, Ariz. – After the Atlanta Falcons made their selection Thursday night, Randall Joyner turned to his wife at his home in Oxford, Miss., and predicted what was about to unfold: “This is the pick,’’ he said.

Joyner, the defensive line coach at Ole Miss, had heard earlier that Walter Nolen, the prized defensive tackle he had coached last season, would not drop past the Arizona Cardinals and the No.16 pick of the NFL Draft. Minutes later, Joyner was proven correct.

“We talked about this six to eight months ago,’’ Joyner said by phone Thursday night. “I said, ‘Hey man, this is the plan.’ And he put his head down and went to work. It’s just really cool. This is one of my favorite times of year, to see a dream turn into a reality.’’

Since the Cardinals hired general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon in 2023, the reconstruction plan in the desert has been clear. As much as possible, they would re-build the Cardinals through the trenches. So far that vision over two seasons has lifted Arizona from four wins to eight. The next step is reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2021. And it involves the 21-year-old Nolen.

“The tape spoke for itself,” Ossenfort said after the draft’s first round. “Violent, disruptive, high motor, tenacious, three-down player. (It’s) hard to find those guys that can affect the pocket from the interior of the formation.”

Nolen continues an overhaul of Arizona’s defensive front. Since the end of last season, the Cardinals have signed veteran tackles Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell, as well as edge rusher Josh Sweat. Nolen, a consensus All-American last season, gives the Cardinals a young lineman to pair with Darius Robinson, a 2024 first-round pick who missed the bulk of last season with injuries.

“We’ve talked about it a lot – we wanted to have a more disruptive defensive unit,” Ossenfort said. “We think we’ve added players that can help us do that.”

Nolen has a strong background. Coming out of high school in Powell, Tenn., he was ranked as the No. 2 player in his class, trailing only Travis Hunter, the Heisman Trophy-winning cornerback/receiver the Jacksonville Jaguars selected with Thursday’s second pick. Nolen spent his first two seasons at Texas A&M, where he flashed star potential. Before the 2024 season, he transferred to Ole Miss and turned into a force, collecting 14 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 13 games.

On a conference call with reporters, Nolen said he thinks of himself as a unicorn, capable of impacting the game from different places and in different ways. During a 17-minute briefing with reporters, Ossenfort and Gannon described the defensive lineman as “disruptive” five times.

Joyner knew he had a unique talent but he didn’t completely understand Nolen’s potential until Ole Miss’ first spring scrimmage last year. Nolen (6-foot-4, 300 pounds) spent most of the afternoon in the offensive backfield. “He literally just shut down the whole scrimmage,’’ Joyner said. “The offense couldn’t do anything.”

As the draft approached, concerns about Nolen’s character surfaced. One in particular questioned his practice habits and whether he was a good teammate. Asked about this, Joyner said Nolen was a fierce competitor, a young player who was far from perfect but one who was willing to learn. The defensive lineman wanted to be coached and he responded.

Nolen said he appreciated how the Cardinals didn’t accept the rumors as truth. They took time to get to know him. They came straight to the source.

“For them to believe in me and put faith in me, I just can’t wait to get out there and perform,” he said.

Gannon — who stresses football character as much as ability — said he has no doubt Nolen will fit into Arizona’s culture. During pre-draft visits, he noticed the defensive tackle had a quiet confidence. He almost came off as shy. But Gannon said he soon came to realize that Nolen had a good heart and strong determination.

“He gets his hat on the ball and the guy plays with extreme motor – that tells me he loves football,” Gannon said. “When you see a guy that’s playing 50 to 60 snaps in a college game – not huddling, on the ball – and he’s running down screens and getting out of the stack and trying to dump people and putting his face in the pile, that jumps out on the tape. … That’s all I really needed to see.”

Despite Nolen’s lofty high school ranking and impressive college recognition, Ossenfort sees a player who has yet to realize how good he can be. That’s something Joyner has talked with Nolen about over the past year. The NFL is not the destination. It’s just the next step.

“It’s crazy,” the Ole Miss defensive line coach said as Thursday night’s first round came to a close. “I just got off FaceTime with him. I said, ‘The mission wasn’t just to get to the NFL. You’re an NFL Hall-of-Fame type talent. Understand that. That’s the mindset you got to go into this.’”

(Photo: Andy Altenburger / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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