The Pittsburgh Steelers are not where they want to be right now. Instead of prepping for the next round of the playoffs, it’s exit interviews and prepping for the offseason. That includes the 2025 NFL Draft where the Steelers will be looking to address some of their shortcomings on the field.
And that means it’s also time for everyone’s favorite offseason exercise, mock drafts. There are few names more synonymous with the NFL draft than ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. So it’s always interesting to see who he talks up during the draft process.
On Tuesday, Kiper and Field Yates dropped their latest mock draft on First Draft on ESPN. Kiper picked Ole Miss DL Walter Nolen for the Steelers at 21st overall.
“When I watched him this year, he popped,” Kiper said. “He popped. And they were moving him around. Athletically, he’s quick. He’s in that backfield, he’s disruptive. So he can do both, stop the run on the way to the quarterback. You can move him around as I said, that versatility is very impressive. The athleticism, very impressive for his size. I think the ability to basically play multiple spots and the ability that he had to be in that backfield like a cat and be disruptive, that’s what you’ve got to be.”
Nolen spent his first two years at Texas A&M before transferring to Ole Miss for the 2024 season. He’s played in 35 career games with 114 total tackles, 26 tackles for a loss, 11.5 sacks, four pass deflections, one forced fumble, and three fumble recoveries.
Nolen had a career year at Ole Miss and was a consensus All-American, meaning he was on all five major All-America teams. He had 48 combined tackles, 14 tackles for a loss, 6.5 sacks, three passes deflected, and two fumble recoveries. All of those were career highs.
Steelers Depot’s Jonathan Heitritter tabbed Nolen as a player to watch during bowl season. Here’s what Heitritter had to say about the defensive line prospect.
“The 6-3, 305-pound junior has the size, strength, and length you want in an interior defender, being a highly touted recruit coming out of high school,” Heitritter wrote. “He finished the season strong with 48 total tackles and 6.5 sacks, but his ceiling is so much higher if he can play with more consistency from a snap-to-snap basis.”
Evidently, Heitritter is high on Nolen. And the Steelers certainly could use more talent along their defensive line in 2025 and beyond. The Steelers were hoping that DL Keeanu Benton would take the next step in his sophomore season, but his stats were virtually identical to his rookie season despite starting five more games.
So could the Steelers add to their defensive line in the 2025 NFL Draft with Walter Nolen? He certainly looks like he’ll be a disruptive force at the next level, and that’s always a good thing a defensive lineman.
