Where Florida, Texas A&M and Tennessee rank in recruitment of 5-star DT

Five-star defensive tackle Walter Nolen has a new top three and Texas A&M football is in it, along with Florida and Tennessee. 

Things are heating up in the recruitment of five-star defensive tackle Walter Nolen, who is one of the top uncommitted prospects left in the 2022 recruiting class.

Last month, Nolen released a top-five list that included Florida football, Tennessee, Alabama, Michigan, and Georiga. The Wolverines were the one dark-horse in the mix from outside the SEC and part of that had to do with Nolen having family ties to Detroit.

There was even some thought he could play high school football this year in Detroit, which would have helped Michigan’s chances.

Instead, he decided to play in Tennessee, where he lives now, and once that news came out, the Volunteers started picking up expert predictions, at least from Rivals, to land the top-ranked recruit in the state.

Nolen is 6-foot-4, 300 pounds and he’s a game-changer. He can probably play anywhere on the defensive line and feels like he’ll probably be a top-10 pick in a few years.

He’s also the kind of recruit that’s tough to land and following an unofficial visit to Texas A&M football last weekend, the final weekend before a dead period, the Aggies have re-emerged and now, Nolen has a new top three that includes A&M, Florida and Tennessee — not Bama, Georgia, or Michigan.

And here’s a look at where each team left is standing in this wild recruitment.

3. Florida

At one point in time, it felt like Florida football was actually in the lead with Nolen. The five-star defensive tackle took a visit to the Swamp and he talked about shutting down his recruitment soon after that, which as you can see hasn’t happened.

Still, it was clear that the visit made an impression on him and if the Gators can get him back for a game this fall, they could still have a chance to sway him.