Cardinals take Ole Miss DT Walter Nolen with No. 16 pick in 2025 NFL Draft

TEMPE — The Arizona Cardinals selected Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday.

Nolen is coming off his lone season at Ole Miss where he registered 6.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss across 13 games played.

Before his time at Ole Miss, the 6-foot-4, 296-pounder spent two seasons at Texas A&M. He accumulated 5.0 sacks and 12 tackles for loss in 22 games played.

His name was among those linked to Arizona through mock drafts this offseason, with 16 mocks pairing Nolen to the franchise in the Arizona Sports Mock Draft Tracker.

Arizona adds to the defensive line after seeing major upgrades there and at pass rusher.

The biggest fish of Arizona’s offseason was pass rusher Josh Sweat, who reunites with head coach Jonathan Gannon after they spent time together in Philadelphia.

Arizona then went out and added proven defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson to help fortify another one of Arizona’s biggest weaknesses from last season.

Then came the return of Calais Campbell, bookending an impressive free agent haul for general manager Monti Ossenfort.

Still, Arizona had plenty of needs heading into the 2025 NFL Draft, highlighted by offensive guard.

With Will Hernandez unsigned and coming off a torn ACL, Arizona currently has Evan Brown and Isaiah Adams as the two likely starting candidates on the roster.

Beyond them, though, depth gets mighty thin.

And while interior defensive line and pass rusher were revitalized, more bodies in the respective rooms wouldn’t hurt.

Offensive tackle, wide receiver and inside linebacker are two more areas of need for the Cardinals.

Walter Nolen marks latest first-round pick for Cardinals’ current regime

Nolen marks the fourth first-round pick the Cardinals have selected under the guidance of Ossenfort.

In 2024, Arizona took wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. with the No. 4 overall pick before coming back around and taking defensive lineman Darius Robinson at No. 27 overall.

The year prior, Ossenfort did some maneuvering through a pair of draft day trades that resulted in the Cardinals taking Paris Johnson Jr. at No. 6 overall on top of the pick used to take Robinson in 2024.

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