Top Defensive Line Contributor to Texas A&M Football Heads to Portal

Prize Recruit from Texas A&M Football’s 2022 Class Plans to Enter Portal

Defensive lineman Walter Nolen, the second overall recruit in the nation from the 2022 cycle, is reportedly entering the transfer portal. This news comes down the same day as the announcement that defensive line coach Elijah Robinson will not be returning to College Station after accepting a defensive coordinator job at Syracuse.

Nolen will have two years of eligibility remaining should he choose to use both of them; that notion is a bit doubtful, though, as he possesses immense talent and will likely declare for the draft following next year. Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida were among his other finalists when he decided to commit to the Aggies; he played his high school football outside of Knoxville, Tennessee, which is likely a relevant point here.

There’s not much you can say to sugarcoat this one: this is a big loss. Nolen was producing at a high level for the Aggies and was one of the best players on a dominant unit for Texas A&M football. That said, this is definitely the deepest position on the Aggie roster.

This note in the tweet above is encouraging as well. If you only end up losing pieces here and there—no matter how talented—the Aggies can still have an extremely dominant defensive front. The scheme that Elko runs unleashes the linemen more so than Durkin’s, so that is a selling point to the guys as well.

It should also be said that a transfer portal entrance is not necessarily the same as a transfer. There is always the possibility that the Aggies can get Nolen to withdraw his name from the portal. It wouldn’t be the first time that such a thing has happened for the Aggies, certainly.

For now though… this sucks. I don’t like it!!!!

Projecting Whether Texas A&M Football Upperclassmen Stay or Go

With the return of Mike Elko as the new Texas A&M football head coach, we take a look at some players that may forgo the draft and return to school.