Texas A&M football will exit the first round of the NFL draft with something they have not in several years: a player selected in the first round. After Shemar Stewart went to Cincinnati with the 17th selection, the Aggies' drought was finally broken.
That number could have been even higher, however. Not only was Nic Scourton snubbed, falling out of the first round, but there's another name that caught Aggie fans' eyes. It's hard to do these butterfly-effect scenarios, but when you have a guy on campus for two of his three pre-draft years before he defects, it's hard to not wonder what could have happen if he had stayed around.
Directly before Stewart's name was called at the 17th pick, the Arizona Cardinals chose former Texas A&M football player Walter Nolen. The former A&M defensive tackle transferred to Ole Miss following the firing of Jimbo Fisher at the end of 2023 after a solid if unspectacular two years in College Station.
Texas A&M football was ever so close to three first-rounders in 2025 NFL Draft
Nolen was the crown jewel of the now-infamous 2022 class for the Aggies, being the highest-rated player in that class. In fact, if you look at the all-time commits, he still ranks as the highest-ever-rated player to enroll with A&M.
Maybe because of that, there was always a worry that Nolen had one foot out the door. Eventually, after some inconsistent play drew criticism from fans, things became more and more tenuous, culminating in his transfer to the in-division rival Ole Miss.
Like I say, it's hard to know what may have happened if he had stayed. It's hard to argue against the notion that Nolen had a breakout year in Oxford; would he have produced the same way had he stayed in College Station under Mike Elko? Would Nic Scourton have transferred to A&M in the first place to complete the first-round triumvirate we're speculating about?
We can't really say for sure. But when two of the guys walking the stage in the first round are players who put on an A&M uniform during their career—and it probably should have been three— you're bound to have some fans wondering "what if?"