Texas A&M sophomore defensive lineman Walter Nolen intends to enter the transfer portal, he announced on social media Sunday night. Nolen, a former five-star recruit, was the No. 2 prospect in the 2022 class, according to 247Sports, and was Texas A&M’s highest-ranked signee in that signing class, which is the highest-rated in the internet recruiting rankings era. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
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The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Nolen played all 12 games this season and started 10 for Texas A&M, leading the defensive line with 37 tackles and finishing fourth on the team with 8.5 tackles for loss. In 22 career games, he has 66 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and five sacks.
He will be the fifth Aggie to enter the portal since Nov. 12, the start of a 30-day transfer portal window that opened upon Texas A&M’s firing of Jimbo Fisher. The portal opens for all FBS players on Monday.
Texas A&M signed an incredible defensive line class in 2022 — of the eight signees, seven were national top-100 recruits, and four were 247Sports Composite five-stars — and holding onto all of them was probably wishful thinking, but losing Nolen hurts. He was one of the best young defensive linemen A&M had, going from a rotational player in his freshman season to a starter and impact player with four sacks in his sophomore campaign.
Nolen is the second of the eight 2022 defensive line signees to depart (Anthony Lucas transferred to USC after his freshman season) and the eighth member of that heralded 2022 recruiting class to hit the portal.
It’s worth wondering how much impact the departure of defensive line coach Elijah Robinson, who accepted the defensive coordinator job at Syracuse, had on Nolen’s decision. Robinson was a key presence in recruiting so many of the elite defensive linemen A&M has signed in recent years, and players rallied around Robinson after he took over as interim head coach following Fisher’s firing in the final weeks of the season. New head coach Mike Elko is working to hire a staff but must also try to retain as much of A&M’s roster as possible to ensure a smooth transition into 2024.
He’ll be one of the most sought after players in the transfer market. Talented defensive linemen are hard to come by, and the fact that Nolen has two years of eligibility is a plus. Nolen has good size, length, strength and definite pro potential.
(Photo: Matthew Visinsky / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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