2025 1st round pick 16 is Walter Nolen DT

[Dback Jon]

When Warren fell I was begging for a trade up. We run 3 TEs 30% of the time anyway.

Make Gronk / Hernandez without all the Gronk and especially Hernandez

After that it was clearly Golden/ Simmons for impact this year.

Simmons’ college coach is now the Cardinals OL coach. That the Cards didn’t draft him is telling

 

[Solar7]

When Warren fell I was begging for a trade up. We run 3 TEs 30% of the time anyway.

Make Gronk / Hernandez without all the Gronk and especially Hernandez

After that it was clearly Golden/ Simmons for impact this year.

Dude, this is wild. We just paid Trey the highest TE contract in NFL history. No way we're taking someone in the ****ing first round to try to be our "Aaron Hernandez," who was a 4th round pick with very real character concerns.

Maybe Harold Fannin or something on Sunday. Sheesh.

Reiman is a meme for bad drafting. 6 catches despite mega usage.

I do agree that Tip was a really confusing and bad pick.

 

[BirdGangThing]

all i know is monti looked happy - like surprised and relieved happy

 

[iLLmatiC]

One out of 15 is great drafting. Keim would be proud

He absolutely does not. He's got zero impact players and like 4 okay dudes despite having 4x the picks

You said we had 0 impact players and now you’re bitching that I only gave you one. I see what you’re doing, complaining to complain. No thanks dude, have a goodnight.

 

[Solar7]

Overinvested? You have got to be kidding me. Fans have been screaming about getting a pass rush for over a year and now we are "overinvested."
No that is not true. In fact, this is what the plan was all along apparently. Have a rotation on the dline with pass rushing and run stopping, dependant on the situation and down.
Nolen will likely start on 3rd and longs just rushing the passer. He was described as "violent."

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This video talks about how he has issues with run defense, but if we aren't using him for run defense than it doesn't matter. Plus he can improve. Also, there is no way Gannon and Monti draft someone they think has character concerns or whatever that was about."

Anyone remember the last time Gannon reacted like this to a draft pick?

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It seems like they got one of the top guys they wanted.

A lot of people who have posted with me here over the years probably know I normally have strong opinions on players or situations. This isn't necessarily one. I've always wanted to upgrade the line, but this is complicated because of how it's built. We don't have the room to play all of these "pass rush" guys at once. We don't exactly run a 3-4, but... kinda.

We signed the best available Edge in Sweat in the free agent market, and as excited as I am to have him, I don't think he's a true alpha rusher. On the other side of the formation, we're still going to be relying on a combination of Zaven Collins/Ojulari/Gardeck. It's inexact with formations, but we're still weak at Edge, unless Robinson or someone else can take over that role (which they might!).

I'd argue we're in a similar squeeze at corner. We've invested in the position, but the only one I really trust is Garrett Williams, and he plays nickel. Otherwise, there's a bunch of okay developmental players at best. And if we draft a CB in the 2nd, we probably waste the Melton or the 3rd round Elijah Jones pick. So... what do we do?

That's overinvestment.

 

[Solar7]

You have to love this.... Overspending.

I never claimed overspending. We have the cap space. I mean loading up at one position without a real vision.

 

[BACH]

I never claimed overspending. We have the cap space. I mean loading up at one position without a real vision.

I understood.

Nolan was arguebly the BPA at #16 consensus-wise and obviously by Monti.

I understand that the DT room is already full, but CC is 38 YO, Tomlinson has 2 years left on his deal, both Jones and Nicols' contract are in practice in their last year.

That is a vision - BPA at a position, where you only have starters for 1 year.

 

[oaken1]

I understood.

Nolan was arguebly the BPA at #16 consensus-wise and by Monti.

I understand that the DT room is already full, but CC is 38 YO, Tomlinson has 2 years left on his deal, both Jones and Nicols' contract are in practice in their last year.

That is a vision - BPA at a position, where you only have starters for 1 year.

Right? Dante Stills and Darius Robinson are the only long term starters on the roster right now for D Line...and now Walter Nolen.
Stills is a decent DT, Nolen is very talented...if he and Robinson even get close to their ceiling, in a few years we will have a dominant Defensive line.

 

[GatorAZ]

We were picking 16th so it’s hard to complain. My expectation for Nolen is to be a stud by year 3.

 

[Chopper0080]

Obviously I like the pick. I like gambling on a ceiling, and Nolan has the best first step in the draft at DL. I have read some of the same things that Chris has shared. I didn’t think he would be an option for AZ because I didn’t think Gannon would want him. I don’t think Monti would either. Whatever those concerns were, Monti and Gannon both seem to be good with the person Nolan presented to them. While I also feel like Monti has had a mid draft output, I haven’t seen him missing on the person with those picks. If that trend continues, Nolan has a huge ceiling. We will see.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

You said we had 0 impact players and now you’re bitching that I only gave you one. I see what you’re doing, complaining to complain. No thanks dude, have a goodnight.

A slot corner is not an impact player. He is a really good player for where he was drafted

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Can’t complain about the pick. Great potential at a position of need.
Would’ve liked to see Campbell fall into round 2 and Monti trade up and grab him.
Philly has the best GM in the league. Campbell going to make that defense even better.

 

[BritCard]

I was looking at who was there at #16 and this was the best pick available IMO.

I was worried they were going to take WR, which would have been a waste with a QB that rarely gets past his 2nd read.

It was Nolen or Simmons for me so I'm happy. We might have one of the best D lines in the league. Certainly one of the deepest. DT 5 is Justin Jones, who has started 72 NFL games. He might even be DT 6.

 

[BritCard]

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[Denny Green Fan]

I understood.

Nolan was arguebly the BPA at #16 consensus-wise and by Monti.

I understand that the DT room is already full, but CC is 38 YO, Tomlinson has 2 years left on his deal, both Jones and Nicols' contract are in practice in their last year.

That is a vision - BPA at a position, where you only have starters for 1 year.

Question do you take Landon Jackson or princely at 47? Or do you want the power right guard out of Arizona? Or neither?

 

[BullheadCardFan]

"I don't know what narratives are out there or anything like that – I make up my own mind," Gannon said. "This guy is a Cardinal 1000 percent."

Arizona Cardinals spend 16th pick of 2025 NFL draft on Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen

Have to like the coach jumping in with so much excitement

As has been said the vets can work with him on attitude and effort

Hard to see this staff bringing in a player with concerns about their attitude

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Anyone remember the last time Gannon reacted like this to a draft pick?

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It seems like they got one of the top guys they wanted.

JG is all over this pick

Which brings more excitement to what we can do with the Dline

Getting pressure with 4 without blitzing will be huge as we saw what the Eagles did to the Chiefs

 

[BullheadCardFan]

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16. Arizona Cardinals -- Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss​

Why they picked him: The Cardinals have been on a mission to rebuild their defensive front and Nolen is another piece of that puzzle. He's big -- 6-foot-4 and 296 pounds -- and has a nose for the quarterback. His 6.5 sacks at Ole Miss last season led FBS among defensive tackles and while he had 12 tackles for loss, he also had 32 tackles within two yards of the line of scrimmage, a sign of his ability to get off blocks and make plays.

Biggest question: How does he fit into the Cardinals' defensive front? Nolen is likely a day one starter and will benefit from having a slew of veteran guys around him such as Calais Campbell, L.J. Collier and Justin Jones. Arizona can afford to bring the rookie along more slowly than if he didn't have the kind of support around him, but the Cardinals will have to balance growth and development with unleashing Nolen's talent, which is immense. -- Josh Weinfuss

2025 NFL draft: Pros and cons for every first-round pick

A couple of surprising trades highlighted the first round of the 2025 NFL draft, including the Giants' move up for a QB.

www.espn.com

 

[BullheadCardFan]

If Walker (got picked right before us) was still on the board do you still pick Nolen?

 

[Stout]

Terrible pick.

This is like taking a blocking TE in round 3

This is the Tip Reiman of posts

 

[Stout]

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There it is.

 

[Stout]

Matt Miller - ESPN:

Post-Draft Analysis​

Even after bringing back Calais Campbell, the interior of the defensive line ranked as a primary need in Arizona since the team is still trying to build around coach Jonathan Gannon's scheme. Nolen was ranked as one of the best pass-rushing defensive tackles in the class -- even ahead of Mason Graham, who went at No. 5 overall. With Nolen's first-step quickness and special physical tools, his ceiling is as high as any defender in the draft. -- Miller

Exactly why we needed him.

 

[GeorgiaCard88]

all i know is monti looked happy - like surprised and relieved happy

Haha I totally agree - I bet when the colts went tight end monti breathed a sigh of relief knowing he was going to get Nolen or walker

 

[Stout]

Can’t complain about the pick. Great potential at a position of need.
Would’ve liked to see Campbell fall into round 2 and Monti trade up and grab him.
Philly has the best GM in the league. Campbell going to make that defense even better.

Philly is in a much, much better place to take him than we were.

 

[Stout]

We finally got one!

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