As confirmed in Sunday's edition of "Skull Session," The Ohio State University is the latest program to offer five-star prospect Walter Nolen. That offer occurred just over a week ago, but was not reported on social media by Nolen himself.

Instead, his head coach, Marlon Walls, spoke with BuckeyeGrove and revealed that Ohio State indeed offered the No. 1 overall junior on Rivals.

In the story below, we are going to take a look at where things stand between the Buckeyes and Nolen, why this is an important offer and look at what Rivals recruiting analyst Chad Simmons thinks of his skill set.

Ryan Day's staff only recently took the next step with Nolen, but communication with him has been ongoing for quite a while.

Nolen revealed in July that he was frequently in talks with Ohio State's coaches, with that contact having to be initiated by him since it was prior to Sept. 1. Since the beginning of September, Nolen has been speaking with them a lot more as the staff is allowed to reach out to him first without violating any rules.

We are hoping to speak with Nolen on the phone soon to get his latest thoughts on the Buckeyes. In the meantime, Walls did say to me that their history of developing defensive linemen is sticking out the most to Nolen at this time.

Referring back to a previous conversation with Simmons over the summer, Nolen revealed that Ohio State and LSU were the two programs catching his attention the most. He also said that now former IMG Academy teammate Tunmise Adeleye had told him great things about the school.

"Ohio State is a great school, they always have a great team and I have been talking Tunmise Adeleye a lot about them too," Nolen previously told Rivals. "I just want to get up there and visit now to check it out."

Nolen will not be able to take a traditional unofficial visit to Ohio State until early January at the very earliest due to the current NCAA-mandated dead period. Once the dead period is lifted, however, look for Columbus to be one of Nolen's first stops when he starts taking visits again.

As most Ohio State fans know, the program was seen as the leader for top-50 overall senior Tywone Malone at one point in time. Due to his desires to play baseball and football in college, and OSU's baseball staff not pursuing him, the Buckeyes are no longer in contention for his services.

This does not mean the Buckeyes did not land some quality defensive tackles in the 2021 class. Michael Hall is one of the top players at the position in this cycle, and four-star DT Tyleik Williams was a solid pickup back in August.

I also believe five-star DE J.T. Tuimoloau, an Ohio State lean, could play inside or outside of their defensive line if he ends up in Columbus.

With them missing out on Malone and Tuimoloau not being a guarantee, however, offering Nolen is a significant next step for Larry Johnson and the staff. They have offered only four other DT prospects in the 2022 cycle: Keithian Alexander, Khurtiss Perry, Nick James and Travis Shaw.

I think it's safe to say out of all of those recruits, Nolen is the one they are in the best position with at this time.

Looking at Ohio State's roster, it is evident that they are going to need to sign multiple defensive tackles in next year's class. Potentially adding Nolen to the fold and a couple of other quality players would be a big win for the Buckeyes, so we'll be monitoring his recruitment closely.

The analyst at Rivals who is probably the most familiar with Nolen's skill set and how dominant he is would be Chad Simmons.

Simmons has seen Nolen in person multiple times, whether that be in practice or at a camp. When writing up an evaluation of Nolen earlier this year, Simmons had this to say about the 6-foot-3, 275-pounder.

"He is very nimble on his feet, he moves extremely well and he is going to be one of the most coveted defensive linemen in the 2022 class," Simmons wrote of Nolen. "He checks all the boxes. He fires off the ball with violence and quickness. He holds his ground, works his hands and plays the run well. He is a very disruptive player.

"Nolen is still improving his technique and fundamentals, so he is far from a finished product. It is scary to think what he can be down the road."

He went on to note that at a practice a year ago, he saw Nolen throwing the ball 50-plus yards and catching the ball with one hand. Simmons also said opposing coaches referred to the then sophomore as the best player in the state, which is high praise for an underclassman.

In a class that could potentially be historic for the Buckeyes, Nolen would be a massive addition for Day and company.

Stay tuned to BuckeyeGrove.