Defensive Tackle Walter Nolen is the Top Prospect on the Michigan Football 2022 Wish List
As the visit-filled month of June wraps up, Jim Harbaugh and his staff hosted most of their key targets. Of those recruits, Cordova (Tenn.) St. Benedict at Auburndale five-star defensive tackle Walter Nolen is at the top of Michigan's list.
Nolen, one of the top prospect in the entire country, recently visited Michigan for an official and the staff knocked it out of the park. Nolen has extended family in the area, which is a big draw for the standout and his immediate family.
The Wolverines, along with Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Florida, Oregon, Ohio State and USC, make up Nolen's top eight, but it feels like Alabama, Florida and Michigan have the best chance to land the big lineman as of right now. Nolen is obviously a very coveted prospect, but Michigan can offer a few things that others cannot, including that nearby family.
Michigan has just one true defensive lineman committed in the 2022 class in River Rouge (Mich.) High defensive tackle Davonte Miles. With just one interior defensive lineman agreeing to play at Michigan and for defensive line coach Shaun Nua, the Wolverines are pushing hard to land Nolen and at least one other defensive tackle type. Merrillville (Ind.) High's Kenneth Grant, Trussville (Ala.) Hewitt Trussville's Justice Finkley and Detroit Cass Tech's Deone Walker are all part of that wanted group.
Nolen's size, strength and quickness are the main reasons he is such a highly touted recruit. His ability to get pressure up the middle and also occupy two to three offensive linemen at the high school level have put him in the elite category and make him seem like an immediate contributor at the college level regardless of where he goes. Pairing him up with Finkley, Grant and/or Walker would make for a very formidable interior.
At 6-5, 300 pounds, Nolen's size plays a huge factor in his success, but his burst, flexibility and length are what separate him from the rest. The short-space quickness he has rivals some of the more effective players in the NFL and how he's able to contort his body at his size is simply rare. He routinely gets on linemen before they know what hit them and then uses his size and raw strength to gain an advantage. Throwing two and even three guys at him in high school often isn't enough.
With Christopher Hinton and Mazi Smith both having at least two years of eligibility left, and after signing two defensive tackles in the 2021 recruiting class, landing more than one or two defensive tackles in the 2022 class isn't exactly a top priority. However, when one of the targets is Nolen, and the other three are as impressive as Grant, Finkley and Walker, you do what you can to land any or all of them.
With a modest 2022 class on the books right now, Michigan has a chance to make some big splashes in the month of July and beyond. With five-star cornerback Will Johnson already in the fold, adding a guy like Nolen and some of the other large and talented defensive linemen could put U-M in the top ten nationally when the 2022 cycle is wrapped up.