Andy Staples breaks down possible fits for Texas A&M transfer Walter Nolen

Wednesday, it became official. Walter Nolen entered the transfer portal after announcing his intentions to do so over the weekend, and he quickly became the top-ranked transfer available, according to the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings.

Nolen was a highly sought-after recruit before committing to Texas A&M with schools such as Michigan and Tennessee expressing interest out of high school. The Powell (TN) product was a Five Star Plus+ prospect and the No. 1-ranked recruit from the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Suffice to say, he’ll have plenty of suitors, as On3’s Andy Staples said Wednesday night.

“Texas A&M defensive lineman Walter Nolen — the type of player we’ve talked about all season, offseason, really since the transfer portal became a thing: The type of player that doesn’t enter very often,” he said on Andy Staples On3.

“A game-changing, potentially, defensive lineman. This is a five-star defensive lineman, signed with Texas A&M in the 2022 class, played quite a bit, is the type of player who can change games from the interior of the defensive line. And that is not the type of player who enters the transfer portal very often.”

While Michigan and Tennessee could find themselves in the mix for Nolen just as they were two recruiting cycles ago, Staples said not to rule out some other top teams. That’s the type of player Nolen is. After all, he had 8.5 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks this past season to anchor the Texas A&M offense.

He’s going to hear from plenty of interested teams.

“Walter, originally from Memphis, but played his final year of high school in East Tennessee near Knoxville. And so, the thought is Tennessee, big-time in the mix,” Staples said. “But Michigan was a school that he considered seriously coming out of high school, as well. So that’s one that’s potentially in the mix. Alabama, I would say, is one that’s in the mix because that’s the type of place that people like Walter Nolen tend to go, so let’s not rule that out.

“Basically, almost anyone wants a player like Walter Nolen.”

Andy Staples: ‘What about Florida State’ as a destination for Walter Nolen?

Another team Staples said could make a run at Nolen is Florida State. The Seminoles had some good luck in the portal last year, and they’ve proven they can integrate transfers seamlessly.

Last year, FSU brought in 13 players from the portal, including leading receiver Keon Coleman. But there have been other transfer success stories in Tallahassee, such as Jared Verse, Trey Benson and Jarrian Jones — who led the Seminoles in sacks, rushing yards and interceptions, respectively.

Mike Norvell and Co. have had success in the transfer market, which is why Staples said they could consider bringing in someone of Nolen’s caliber.

“Also, what about Florida State?” Staples said. “They’ve been the best transfer portal team going. They’ve been really good at it. They’ve shown that if you come there after your transfer, you tend to do pretty well. So I’m not ruling that out either. So lots going on there. And Walter Nolen is certainly one of the most intriguing guys in the transfer portal. He’s going to have his options.”

How NIL could factor into Nolen’s decision

Of course, as has been the story with most portal entries this year, one of the big topics around the pursuit of Nolen is NIL. In a survey conducted for On3, 62% of 377 FBS players who participated said NIL would play a factor in their decision to enter the portal, Pete Nakos reported.

But one of the most notable comments about NIL and the portal came from Nebraska coach Matt Rhule, who said, “A good quarterback in the portal costs $1 million to $1.5 million to $2 million right now.”

With that in mind, Staples wondered what that would mean for a rare talent such as Nolen — a player who, as he said, doesn’t typically enter the portal.

“It’ll be interesting to see what the market for him is, what the NIL dollars turn out to be,” Staples said. “Because we’ve talked about the NIL dollars for quarterbacks. We’ve talked about what Matt Rhule said, where he said the going rate is into seven figures for a really good quarterback who makes your program better not for just any quarterback, but for one of the really good ones. So we are talking, in the current transfer portal, you’re talking about somebody like Dillon Gabriel, who’s leaving Oklahoma. Riley Leonard, who’s leaving Duke. It’s not a huge, long list, but there’s a few of them that can come to your program probably make you quite a bit better. The going rate, probably around $1.5 million. Maybe even a little higher than that.

“But what about a guy like Walter Nolen? Because he’s actually probably more rare. Now, the quarterback position is the most important position in the game, but it is followed closely by interior defensive lineman, EDGE rushers and left tackles — good offensive tackles, in general. Those people are the most important, and that’s where you gotta go.”