40. Walter Nolen DT Ole Miss – Trade with New Orleans for Pick 6
With the second of the picks received from the New Orleans Saints, we turn our focus back to the defense and building up the spine of the unit. We use the 40th overall pick on a player that many scouts have tabbed as a first-rounder in Walter Nolen out of Ole Miss.
The defensive tackle is a unit at 6-3 and 305lbs and was one of the best run stoppers in college football during his career with Texas A&M and Ole Miss. He commanded double teams throughout his college career and still managed to rack up 7.0 sacks this year as an interior defensive lineman.
Scouts believe that Nolen can be an immediate contributor and he would slot in nicely next to Christian Wilkins who brings plenty of pass rush ability from the 3-technique. Nolen is versatile and can line either as a nose or 3-tech depending on the alignment. Like many young defensive linemen, he will need to refine his technique and work on maintaining pad level but this comes with time and coaching.