Aaron Donald Praises Cardinals Rookie Walter Nolen After Breakout Debut

ARIZONA -- The long-awaited debut of Arizona Cardinals DL Walter Nolen was worth the suspense.

Nolen, who missed the entirety of the first half of Arizona's season with a calf injury that's kept him out since before training camp, dominated in his first taste of NFL action with four tackles, one pass defensed and one sack.

He became the fourth player in league history (and first since TJ Watt) to debut with 1+ sack, 2+ TFLs & 1+ pass defensed.

That performance has earned praise from across the board - and even NFL legend Aaron Donald had to give Nolen some props.

Aaron Donald Praises Walter Nolen After Cardinals Debut

"I'm gonna give some light to Nolen, the rookie d-tackle, 97 for Arizona. His first rookie start, first time playing ... that sack he had was in the fourth quarter too, so it was a big sack in the game," Donald said on his podcast.

"He played some good football, man. So good job big dog for your first rookie game to go out there and show out."

Aaron Donald gives some praise to Walter Nolen for his BIG performance against the cowboys👀

The Cardinals got their future star 💫 pic.twitter.com/nBWp71QZZ3
— Maserati Marv 🏎️💨 (@MHJera_) November 6, 2025

That's awfully high praise coming from one of the league's best defensive players ever.

READ: Walter Nolen Sends Shots at Cowboys

Nolen was viewed as a twitchy interior defensive lineman during his time at Ole Miss, which made him an attractive asset for Arizona to add with the No. 16 overall pick.

This isn't the first time Donald has offered some good words for Nolen, as he surprised the incoming rookie at the NFL Scouting Combine with the following message:

“I heard you say you’re the next Aaron Donald, man. Keep doing your thing, man. Hopefully, you have a long career and a better career than what I had. I’ll be looking out for you, I’ll be watching for you, and see how this thing turns out for you. Good luck, it's football so have fun. ... Hard work pays off. If you put the body of work in, it's going to pay off huge for you, man."

Nothing like getting a special message from your role model 🥹@WalterNolen4 | @AaronDonald97 pic.twitter.com/0ruuq8vVtD
— NFL GameDay (@NFLGameDay) February 27, 2025

You can also color head coach Jonathan Gannon impressed:

"He did play well. He was disruptive. He's got some things to clean up just like everybody, but I was pleased with where he's at. I really was," Gannon said this week.

"Obviously, (he) impacted the game and had some disruption in there in the run and pass game, which was good to see. (He) played probably a touch more than I was anticipating. (I) got the play counts this morning from everybody, but I thought 'Deebo' (DL Coach Winston DeLattiboudere III) did a good job of managing that and then getting him in the game late there to help close the game.”

Aaron Donald Praises Walter Nolen After Cardinals Debut

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