Title: Junior Colson 

School: Michigan

Year: Junior

Position: Linebacker

Measurables: 6’2”, 238 lbs. ARM: 32 1/2” HAND: 9 3/8”

Combine: DNP

Courtesy of Sports-Reference.com

General Info:

Junior Colson’s journey to the NFL is complex and heartwarming. Born in Haiti, Colson moved to Tennessee when he was 9 years old with his adoptive parents. An omen of things to come, Colson has remarked that first thing he saw upon touching down at the airport were Michigan hats, donned by his adoptive family. He played high school football at Ravenwood High in Brentwood, Tennessee where he played with fellow 2023 Draft Prospect Graham Barton. A stellar career saw him ranked as a 4-star composite prospect in the 2021 recruiting class, one of the top linebackers, and just outside of the top 100 prospects nationally. Although he had plenty of options, the choice was easy for Junior Colson—he was to be a Wolverine.

There was no developmental period for Colson, who began taking significant snaps on Michigan’s defense as a true freshman. In 14 appearances (seven starts), he recorded 61 tackles, a sack, and a trio of pass-breakups. During and after the season, Colson received several awards, from the team, conference, and from news outlets. Following a stellar game against Indiana he was named Defensive Player of the Week and received several “All-Freshman” team sports. He also shared Michigan’s Defensive Rookie of the Year Award.

Growth is one of the most important things you hope to see from a college football player after their Freshman season, and Colson certainly did just that. His 2022 Sophomore season was genuinely stellar. Colson’s 101 tackles led the team, and coupled with a handful of TFLs and a pair of sacks, were enough for the Big-Ten coaches to name him a second team conference player. He was named DPOW four times over the course of the season, with a couple of double digit tackle weeks.

The 2023 season was very similar to 2022 statistically for Colson. In 15 starts, the Junior ‘backer had 95 tackles (2 TFLs), a few hurries, and a few pass breakups. After the season, he was once again a second-team All-Big Ten selection. He was also named DPOW five times over the course of the season. Colson saved the best for last, though—in the final three games of the season, Colson recorded 24 total tackles and both of his pass breakups as Michigan marched through the Big Ten championship game and the CFP playoffs en route to a national championship. 

After the season, Colson (like many of the champion Wolverines) declared for the 2024 NFL draft. Although invited to the Combine, he did not do any drills, which makes his Pro Day on March 22nd very important.

Positional Skills:

Strengths

Though Colson did not run measurables at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, his film shows that he has the type of speed, explosiveness, and size that teams look for in the modern NFL. Colson is an impressive athlete, and should really shine at his Pro Day on the 22nd.

One of the better coverage LBs in this class—maybe even the best. Although the raw numbers don’t blow you away, Colson has good instincts, keeping his eyes on the QB and sensing when people are in his zone. He’s solid in man coverage too, with the speed and smarts to stick with TEs and RBs. 

Really experienced starter on a high level defense.

Very good at diagnosing and reacting to play action.

Reliable tackler—guys to tend to get away from him once he’s got a grip on them.

Weaknesses:

 Maybe a little *too* patient. Colson can be slow to break downhill on run plays, so he doesn’t tend to make big tackles for a loss. There’s a few shades of Blake Martinez making 140 tackles four yards past the line of scrimmage that NFL teams will want to train out of him.

Colson can get tied up in blocks. He doesn’t do a great job disengaging from blocks. Coupled with a still developing understanding of offensive blocking schemes, he can wind up out of position and pretty effectively removed from a play.

Tendency to take shallow angles which can cause him to get beat around the corner by faster players. 

Fit with the Packers:

Gute likes winners. In theory, every NFL GM likes winners—but we have seen in the past that the Packers tend to prefer players with some championship or bowl pedigree in the early rounds of the NFL draft. Look at the first two rounds of Gute’s last three drafts:

* Three Georgia players coming off of National Championship victories (Stokes, Walker, Wyatt)

* One Ohio State player coming off of National Championship loss (Myers)

* One North Dakota State player coming off of a FCS Championship victory (Watson)

* One Iowa player coming off of a bowl victory and a team that had regularly been top 25 during his tenure (Van Ness)

* One Oregon State player coming off of a bowl victory and the teams best season in forever (Musgrave).

The only player that sticks out is Jayden Reed, with the 2023 Michigan State Spartans team struggling—but even then, Michigan State had finished the prior season ranked 9th on the AP Poll. Gute. Likes. Winners. We’ve seen the Packers take athletic linebackers coming off of a National Championship earlier than expected before. With a need for bodies that can see significant snaps at LB next to Quay Walker and Isaiah McDuffie, Colson is a darkhorse first round pick for the Packers. Although this LB class is not particularly strong overall, Colson stands out and I expect him to be a late riser in the draft process. Keep an eye on this one.

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