• 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.