More prospect visits for the Cincinnati Bengals are being reported with the NFL Draft less than three weeks out.
The Bengals pick 17th overall in the first round on April 24, and despite investing plenty of cash in both B.J. Hill and T.J. Slaton last month during free agency, defensive tackle is in play to be Cincinnati's first-round pick.
One of the defensive tackles that pick could be is coming to town very soon.
Bengals hosting Ole Miss DT Walter Nolen for pre-draft visit
Per KPRC2's Aaron Wilson, Nolen will visit the Bengals sometime this week following his visit with the Carolina Panthers on Monday.
Cincinnati has shown interest in Nolen throughout the pre-draft process. The 21-year old grabbed director of player personnel Duke Tobin's attention down at the Senior Bowl. Nolen later met with Tobin and other coaches and personnel members of the team at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Bringing in Nolen for a visit leading up to the draft further confirms the Bengals' interest in him.
There are many reasons why Nolen was slotted to the Bengals in A to Z Sports' first round mock draft composed by our beat writers. Nolen is a former five-star recruit who played and produced at a notable college program (he played for two SEC schools, even!) and enters the league still just 21.
That description matches nearly all of Cincinnati's first-round picks since Zac Taylor took over as head coach in 2019. Jonah Williams, Dax Hill, Myles Murphy, and Amarius Mims can all relate. Joe Burrow was an age and recruiting exception as the best quarterback from the class of 2020 and Ja'Marr Chase was a four-star recruit.
Nolen would check all the boxes as four of his six predecessors, and he'd also fit a clear need on the team.
Hill and Slaton give the defense its two starters inside the edges, but the position group is severely lacking a pass-rushing threat. Hill ranked 34th out of 42 qualifying starting DTs last season in Pro Football Focus' pass rush win rate (8.4%) and that rate was still significantly higher than what Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson posted as rookies. Slaton is a true nose tackle, so getting after the quarterback is not going to be his main job.
It would be Nolen's job in this defense, and he improved in that area last year for Mississippi. He ranked sixth among SEC interior rushers in pass rush win rate (10.9%) after he was at just 8% in 2023.
Nolen is projected to go off the board in the back-half of the first round according to the A to Z Sports Mock Draft Database. A fall into the second round wouldn't be too shocking, but if the Bengals want him, they'll have to draft him in the first.
Consider his name one of the handful to really watch for when they're on the clock at pick No. 17.
