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Breaking down why Oregon would be a great fit for Walter Nolen

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby: On3 Staff Report12/11/23
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(Dustin Safranek-USA TODAY Sports)

After a little bit of back and forth, Walter Nolen’s name officially hit the NCAA transfer portal on Wednesday, putting a former five-star prospect and the nation’s No. 1 overall recruit in the 2022 recruiting class back on the market.

There has been no shortage of suitors since he entered.

Nolen is beginning to take some visits to some of his potential destinations, and On3’s Pete Nakos broke down one of his first visits.

“He was at Oregon this weekend and just some early conversations, my understanding, it went well,” Nakos said on the Andy Staples On3 show.

Nolen is a former five-star prospect and the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2022 recruiting class.

He started 10 games across two seasons for the Aggies, proving to be a disruptive force in the middle of the defense. He logged 66 tackles, 11.0 tackles for a loss, 5.0 sacks, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup.

Now he’s looking for a new home, and talented interior defensive linemen don’t grow on trees in the transfer portal.

“You do think about their interior defensive line, where they’re losing some very old and good players. That would be a nice step up,” Andy Staples said. “And Jordan Burch still there, that would be quite an athletic front if they were able to add him. But of course there’s a lot of other people who would be very interested in him as well.”

That said, Oregon appears to have made a strong impression on the visit based on Nakos’ reporting.

The Ducks can certainly sell College Football Playoff contention after coming up just short the past two seasons. One or two players of Nolen’s caliber might just be the difference.

“I think the one thing that’s really interesting about Walter Nolen is he’d be such a strong fit with Tosh Lupoi and Dan Lanning in Eugene,” Nakos said. “By no means do I have any intel that says like a commitment is going to happen at any moment, but I just think that the Oregon and Walter Nolen situation just makes sense in so many different ways.”