• Position: Linebacker
• College: Michigan
• Class: Junior
• Number: 25
• Drafted at: Round 3 Pick 5 (96th overall)
• Age when drafted: 21.39

Measurables:

RAS Score:

None recorded as no test data was available

Production:

Games Watched:

• Ohio State - 11.25.2023
• Washington - 01.03.2023

Positives:

It's a relief so find an effective blitzer in this class, Colson covers ground quickly and has the movement skills that build power with each stride to accelerate into the QB. He got a nice pressure on a late play call adjustment where he bent around the guard in a flash. It's pretty clear immediately that he is better coached than his classmates as he attacks the backside edge before the cross block from the tight end can get to him so he scrapes down the line for a tackle for no gain, nice play where he decided early what to do and didn't take his eyes off the ball the whole way. Looks good in coverage too, he dropped out of his mugged up 4-tech in the overload front to get all the way out to the opposite slot seam which was the QBs first read, that's a lot of ground to cover then he opens back up and comes downhill for a strong hit on the back who got the checkdown ball. Good discipline to wait for the cutback lane against Duo. Looks good overall in man coverage, showed good footwork and understands positioning and leverage well although he doesn't seem to possess the short area quickness to play in the apex primarily. Wow he is not afraid of anyone in the run game, he scraped over the free release lineman getting through contact and then stuck his face right into the path of the pulling LT, winning the contact battle without giving up any ground at all and powers through for a catch and squeeze tackle with teammates helping. Shows good footspeed to get out of bounce stance to stay with the lateral cut of the back who had a two way go. Does a nice job of sifting through traffic but needs to break down better as again he over extends a bit, still a nice run stop. I think he possesses a decent understanding of route concepts that allows him to gain depth and get in passing windows to put off throws, there's a play where he could have just closed on the RB route but he stayed high to shut off an underneath ball to the slot's vertical route, that's good awareness. Does well to squeeze from an outside leverage position and make a tackle through Stover by getting his hands free early. Consistently finds ways to be involved in tackles, really like his upper body strength which can survive blocks to keep his balance and keep moving downhill. Not sure his tackle technique is dominant to fight for every yard but it does get his man down. He flows very well with motion to maitain gap integrity, I would like to see him play with wider eyes to look for crack blocks but this was down to poor communication. Colson was the beating heart of the Michigan defense with his command over play adjustments being very clear, he called out when the Washington back was going to short motion out into a route before he did and this gave his apex defender time to sift through the route distribution and Junior then carried underneath the vertical route with expert timing. Flattens a receiver on a crack block attempt when pursuing the bubble screen, he didn't lose much speed doing this and managed to be the second defender to the ball despite starting inside the box. Really love how he has the confidence to sit and diagnose when there are multiple reads crossing over in the backfield, he has a natural feel for run concepts and his timing here to twist his shoulder around a block then firing off his backfoot for a rate TFL that occured well after the snap. His zone drops are really solid, he gets depth quickly but always scans for where the next threat is coming from and overall I really like how he occupies space without being passive. He made a nice tackle on a in breaking route from the far side where he came downhill at a 45 degree angle to meet the tight end and sent him onto his backside with a form tackle.

Negatives:

Slow to close in the inside lane of the tunnel screen where he was a few steps late on the release, this cost him an angle and his lack of elite horizontal pursuit speed led to the receiver getting an extra 5 yards. Made a wrong read as the ball carrier got to the second level where he tried to cut under the climbing lineman instead of scraping over, this cost an opportunity to get a tackle. He uses his length to his advantage when squeezing through gaps by poking his arms through and getting narrow but he's opening his sides up to get hurt and he clearly doesn't have the hand fighting skills to get around his man instead of through him. Tries to do his teammates job when he peeled off a drag route to get underneath the tight end's vertical stem but this opened up his original read then he overpursues trying to make up for it and would have missed the tackle if he didn't get help. Lost his footing when he got crossed up trying to twist his body by doing two things at once, he seems to be worried about people opening up on him and needs to work on being more patient as this move cost a first down. He's guilty of overflowing and could learn to be slightly behind the runner to cover any cutback lanes. Got stonewalled by TreVeyon Henderson on a blitz, he has 5 inches and 35 pounds on him, that's not a good show of power. Tends to bite on play action, his on snap motion is always forwards which is good but I'd like to see him bounce a bit more on slow developing plays as he gets out of alignment. Horrible job of a middle zone rep where he allowed MHJ loads of room to stay true to his role, he needs to squeeze on this route immediately especially in the redzone as this allowed an easy touchdown. His vision is good but there is a slight delay to how he reacts to his keys, he seems to prefer being a little bit late than wrong.

Overall Grade: 

LB1 / Tier 1 / Round 2

Summary:

In a pretty bad linebacker class Colson stands out as the clear best and I am puzzled as to why it was ever a question. He has all the tools you want to see in a modern inside linebacker with his length, power and fluidity being elite traits he boasts on every snap. To see a man this size being able to both take on offensive lineman and drop into the deep parts of the second level with a degree of control and poise, makes it an easy translation to see him in NFL post snap adjusments. I really like how he plays football but there's a reason I have him as a second round talent; Junior needs to not try and do too many things at once or try to do other people's jobs for them, he wouldn't be a fit in a pattern match team that needs him to make multiple reads at once as it would overload him in coverage especially as he likes to process things slowly. However he is a force in the run game, is excellent in zone coverage and can hold his own in man coverage as well being an effective blitz presence. I was taking all of the stocks of this man who for some reason, despite being huge and a fluid athlete with great instincts, was being underrated right up until the last few weeks of the draft.

System fit:

Colson plays the Mike in Minter's defense and he will walk straight into that role on day one of camp. I can't say enough how much he will improve the Chargers' ultra-thin linebacker room especially as he will be the only natural partner to Denzel Perryman with Henley and Niemann being more apex types. I think he will probably get Jesse Minter's playcalls to distribute to his team mates as he will have the verbage down with no need for translation. If you are in any dynasty IDP fantasy leagues I would be taking him as early as any other defensive player because he is going to be the heart of Minter's system from day one and he might hit 500 tackles by the end of his rookie contract.

System Player Comp:

It could be too easy to just say that Colson is going to play the exact role he played for Jesse Minter in Michigan even though he absolutely will be. So let's look at Mike Macdonald's 2023 Baltimore Ravens defense to best understand if there is going to be a shift in Junior's role when moving into the professional game. The answer lies somewhere in between the 2023 Ravens and the 2024 Ravens, stay with me here. The Ravens let Patrick Queen walk in free agency before the draft because they already had his replacement in the building as they drafted him last spring; Trenton Simpson. The off-ball linebacker out of Clemson missed his whole rookie season but it seems like John Harbaugh is willing to bet on his growth being able to fill a hole that their cap space couldn't stretch to address. Queen was a very good Will linebacker coming out of LSU and he had a varied rookie contract in Maryland with highs and lows but it seems like Joe Hortiz was a part of the team that was trying to correct the skillset that Queen was missing. Trenton Simpson is speed and power personified, his 1.48 10 yard split remains one of the best of all time for a linebacker, so it seems like they were trying to forgo quick trigger responses and agility to find someone who could play more patience then play with speed and strength when the picture had become clearer. This seems to be the way in which the Chargers view Colson except he also has the inside box experience in a pro style system to be an immediate contributor at Mike linebacker instead of existing on the edge of the box. Finding a guy like Roquan Smith takes many years of being patient and there is nothing to stop the Chargers picking that player up in years to come so in the meantime they seem to have found a big time contributor at great value who could move between the spots if needed with his plus athleticism.

Pick Assessment:

This is a really simple one for me; to get my LB1 that was rumored to be going in the top 40 picks, at pick 69 AND to have him walk straight into the same system as a potential green dot wearing starting rookie, is outstanding value. For me this is the best pick of the Chargers' draft class as I would have been happy taking him an entire round earlier.

• Position: Wide Receiver
• College: Georgia
• Class: Senior
• Number: 84
• Drafted at: Round 2 Pick 2 (34th overall)
• Age when drafted: 22.46

Measurables:

RAS Score:

Production:

Games Watched:

• Oregon- 09.03.2022
• TCU - 01.10.2022
• Alabama - 12.02.2023

Notes:

Georgia were a run heavy team (52% compared to NFL average 40%) so targets were harder to come by to begin with but when you add in the Brock-Bowers-effect, the share gets even lighter. Ladd’s 2023 season was thrown out of whack when he missed 5 games with back and ankle injuries (which have since been signed off as healed). Therefore if we go back to his last full year he was targeted 15.4% of the time by Stetson Bennett in his Junior year.

Positives:

Does really well on the tunnel screens including one where he cut tight behind his climbing lineman's hips and shows some short area quickness to eat up the space (his elite three cone time backs up the film here) before using his excellent vision to cut twice into open space against the grain to maximize the yardage available. Has the release footwork to open up against press and uses a swim move effectively to keep going free but he won't accelerate past from this position despite his explosive testing. He can however utilize the panic this creates to snap off routes back to the ball but I'd expect pro corners would get used to this and play in trail. Leant into a seam route nicely and showed strong hands to get up and grab the sideline ball towards the goal line but didn't get his feet down as his light frame got pushed 3 yards out of bounds in the air. Strong run blocker despite his size, shows solid lower body strength to anchor and pivot to keep his man inside, he really has great technique here. Shows off a nice hip drop at the top of his route to get from his vertical stem to a rollout comeback route with fluidity and great timing. His play speed is nothing to shout about but he can climb levels in the intermediate areas in a hurry, when he gets into the second phase of his sprint he can really start to move. Keeps fighting to give his QB a target on a scramble drill from the far side of the field, nice hustle to even get to the under thrown ball. His plant on his speed cut is confident and carries pace throughout it in an efficient manner as he doesnt get too deep into his knee bend, this means he doesn't have to steer with his backfoot and he can instead lift it all the way through; this will serve him well in the slot. Took a reverse to the house on a lead blocker concept, I like that he set up his blocks and didn't just blaze into an open gap, he showed both patience and speed at once.

Explosive gain when running the blaze out on the PA boot concept, good setup but his speed and shifty moves in space won the down where he shook the corner to the floor on a nasty cut before surging upfield and trying the same move again only falling short of a score by a yard on a shoestring tackle. Ran a beautiful Dig route on the far side where he released rapidly opening up his defenders before getting down, in, up and out of a lateral cut and then exploding again across the middle to hit a huge window at the time of his QBs release but Stetson had pulled the trigger on another option. His blocking technique means he can lead block on motions despite being light, he is not afraid to take it to bigger defenders. You really see his projection to the pros when he sits vs zone from his slot alignment; he gets from facing back to full speed in a hurry and steers his way through space and uses his full open stride speed to threaten the safeties early, he can really be a chain mover and a target hog from these situations.

Negatives:

Lack of explosion in his release, has to really lift his knees to generate power in his stem and clearly doesn't have natural burst. Has the quickness to threaten second level zones but isn't able to push safeties back to open up underneath. I thought his speed getting in and out of his breaks would be better, he takes minimal steps but his feet aren't naturally able to carry the pace of his stem through tighter cuts and he seems to round off routes more often than an elite route runner should. Poor use of space on the bubble screen where he runs to the sideline where he had a blocker inside, overthought this. He has to steer around apex defenders who have stacked his release and this costs time in the route, with more mass he could learn to be physical enough to replace the inside shoulder of his man. I'd like him to flatten his out routes underneath outside quarter zones a bit more as he drifts too deep leaving a tough angle for his QB to hit. Whilst he is willing to block and has good technique his lack of functional play strength means corners can get off of him at the last second by benching him off their chest and giving themselves a two way go, needs to adjust his grip to get wide and then step into them as he feels the runner getting nearer. He gets knocked off balance at the top of his routes pretty easily and he can't play through his man in the redzone with his lack of physicality.

Overall Grade: 

WR8 / Tier 4 / Round 2

Summary:

Ladd was looking likely to lift the Georgia Bulldogs’ receiving corps to the next level during the run-in of the 2023 season with some impressive displays against Florida, Missouri and Ole Miss before a pair of injuries derailed his season. He had already shown he can be a smart multilevel threat that can keep defenses worried about their spacing as he can use his quickness to get in between the second and third levels. I think Ladd can become a solid possession type receiver that can be a good asset that is consistently available in the intermediate areas. However his ceiling can be seen as limited without the explosive traits of the elite guys above him in this class. His testing didn’t shine through on tape often enough and whilst his 4.39 40 yard time will have people thinking he can take the top off, he rarely threatened that except with the ball already in his hands where he has flashed home run hitting ability without the elusiveness that would make him a genuine YAC threat. Seems to be more comfortable and better suited to the slot where he can use his route running to manipulate leverages in zone or match without having to physically dominate like he would on the outside. His junior year tape showed much more juice, the Oregon game particularly was very impressive, so it seems like the injuries limited him even when available in his senior year, if he has been fully signed off then this could be a guy to bet on.

http://gty.im/1915749502

System fit:

Ladd is going to be a nice fit for a run heavy Greg Roman scheme as he can do the dirty work whilst being ready to utilize his opportunities with quick breaks back to the ball especially when afforded two way go’s in the slot. I don’t expect to see many 1000 yard seasons from anyone in this system and that’s why I am a fan of taking Ladd from a profile fit perspective as he gives Justin options if teams go into zone to get more bodies into the box to stop the run. Of course elite speed kills but very good speed combined with other tools means he can stay on the field for all three downs and contribute in multiple ways.

System Player Comp:

Whilst I do not like to do player comps overall I do like to see which of the former players within the coordinators recent history the prospects align with. McConkey is remarkably similar to Rashod Bateman in terms of size and testing but their film has differences that I believe are Greg Roman and Joe Hortiz trying to correct the mistake with Bateman who has so far not lived up to expectations as a Round 1 receiver. Bateman was a smooth route runner coming out of Minnesota but his lack of true speed in both short and long areas meant he hasn't been able to turn that into consistent seperation. Ladd is a bit smaller in stature particularly in wingspan but this is clearly something the organization are willing to live with for the more explosive traits.

Pick Assessment:

The Bolts traded up from 37 to 34 to get their man as they clearly thought he’d be off the ball by the time they picked. However they only had to switch pick 110 (the additional 4th rounder they got for Keenan Allen) for pick 137 to get up this far. The value they got in the pick swap wasn’t too bad (-6.5 points on the Jimmy Johnson chart) but looking at the drop off in WR after this pick makes this a very sound decision to trade up. I had Ladd as my WR8 and they took him as the WR8 despite his system fit being much better suited than players taken before him. Adonai Mitchell and Roman Wilson were the only similarly graded WRs left on my board however Mitchell wasn’t going to be a Harbaugh guy with his lack of effort away from the play so that left a choice between Roman and Ladd. If Jim didn’t want his own man in the door then I am definitely going to defer to his expertise and believe this was for a reason, therefore you could say this was the only logical choice left on the table and therefore justifies the trade up at a position of need.