Overview

Position: DL

College: Ole Miss

Class: Junior

Age: 21

 

Measurables

Height: 6’3 3/4”

Weight: 296 lbs.

Arm length: 32 1/2″

Hand size: 9 1/2″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: N/A

10-yard split: N/A

Vertical jump: N/A

Broad jump: N/A

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Athletic with good lean mass. Excellent overall twitchiness. Quick side-to-side movement skills. Terrific balance to keep his feet when taking on blocks. Impressive burst to close. Quick hands. Natural strength to shed. Great instincts and play recognition. Uses his hands to control opponents and twist them aside to make a tackle. Moves his feet to position himself in the hole. Quick feet to split blockers. Plenty of experience slanting down to penetrate. Beats linemen to the spot on attempted reach blocks. Will stay low to prevent blockers from standing him up. Digs in as a run defender and keeps his hands active. Able to take on multiple blockers while working down the line of scrimmage. Strong extending to set the edge when shaded outside. Light and athletic positioning himself to finish. Very strong wrapping up. Outstanding range to make tackles on the perimeter. Tremendous pursuit as a backside defender. Will successfully leave his feet to lunge for tackles. Great overall hustle. Aggressive helping to finish tackles. Does his best to anchor down versus double teams. Fluid with light feet to jump into another gap or rush lane. Wins with shake and quickness as a rusher. Relentlessness seems to increase closer to the quarterback. Has fluidity to bend and dip to make a blocker miss. Shows a strong bull rush into the chest of offensive linemen. Very effective rip move. Quick and athletic to track a quarterback maneuvering in the pocket.

 

Weaknesses

Average length and will have blockers get to his frame. Slow getting into his rush at times. Can have his momentum used against him and get pushed off the rush path when slanting. Had some trouble versus Georgia guard Tate Ratledge (2024).

 

NFL comparison

Devonte Wyatt

 

Conclusion

Overall, Nolen is a strong and quick defensive lineman who knows how to finish and holds up well versus the run. He should be a fit for any scheme as either a 4-3 defensive tackle or 3-4 defensive end.

 

Big Board ranking: #28 | Positional ranking: #3