Steelers First-Round DT Target Skips Pro Day Workouts

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Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen during practice for the 2025 Senior Bowl on Jan. 29, 2025. -- Alan Saunders / Steelers Now

Ole Miss defensive tackle and potential Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft pick Walter Nolen did not participate in any testing or drills at the 2025 NFL Combine, expecting to instead work out at the Rebels pro day on Friday.

That didn’t come to pass, either, with Nolen participating in only the bench press on Friday in Oxford. He put up 27 reps, which would have been among the leaders at defensive tackle at the combine. Jordan Phillips of Maryland led the class with 29. Three players had 28.

The Steelers top brass was expected to make the trip to Ole Miss to see Nolen, quarterback Jaxson Dart, wide receiver Tre Harris, cornerback Trey Amos, nose tackle J.J. Pegues and the rest of the Rebels’ draft class, but the only personnel spotted at the pro day have been assistant general manager Andy Weidl and scout Ike Taylor.

DB Trey Amos getting some work in with former Steelers CB Ike Taylor! pic.twitter.com/IEfTlLfzdH

— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) March 28, 2025

It could be possible that the Steelers found out that Nolen was not working and skipped the trip to Mississippi. Dart is expected to visit the Steelers in April. Pegues came to Pittsburgh on March 6.

Nolen will now stand on the quality of his film, which was very strong in 2024. He played in 13 games for Ole Miss, recording 48 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, three passes defended and two fumble recoveries while earning All-SEC and All-America nods.

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Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen during practice for the 2025 Senior Bowl on Jan. 29, 2025. — Alan Saunders / Steelers Now

He also had a strong week at the 2025 Senior Bowl, where the Steelers top brass, including Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin all scouted him in person, and he met with the team.

Before transferring to Ole Miss, Nolen spent two seasons at Texas A&M, where had 66 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, five sacks one pass defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in two seasons.

Nolen is currently the No. 28 player on the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board, just behind the Steelers first-round pick at No. 21 overall.

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