Junior Colson scouting report: Exploring the Michigan LB's strengths and weaknesses
Just outside the top 100 overall prospects in the class of 2021, Junior Colson already started half of the 14 games for Michigan as a true freshman and racked up 61 tackles for a CFP team. In 2022 he put up 101 tackles, six for loss and a couple of sacks (only one PBU, after two as a freshman).
His numbers were down just a little bit last year (95 tackles, two for loss, zero sacks and two PBUs), but Junior Colson was still recognized as a second-team All-Big Ten selection.
Details: 6-foot2, 235 pounds; JR.
Breaking down Junior Colson's scouting report
Strengths
Run defense
- Junior Colson has the short-area burst to shoot through lanes and create chaos in the backfield.
- Plays with his hair on fire all the time and won’t be stopped by blockers wrapping around/peeling off to get a piece of him.
- Showcases tremendous contact balance and sturdiness to hold his ground in those tight quarters defending the run.
- When he can’t get all the way over to the gap, he’ll make sure to squeeze blockers into the action and take away escape paths for the ball carrier.
- Trusts himself to take in a lot of information, such as slow-playing RPOs or when he’s on the trips side and the play is still developing, to still fill against the run.
- Ferocious tackler, who wraps and slings ball carriers down with an attitude.
- Even if he’s engaged with blockers and has no space to explode into contact, you rarely see ball carriers be able to drive through contact with him and force him into legit drag-tackles.
- Missed just 6.7% of his attempted tackles in 2022 and dropped that down even further to a 4.7% miss rate last season (90.2 PFF tackling grade).
Coverage
- You see Junior Colson send some receivers airborne trying to push up the seams as a hook defender.
- Does a nice job of floating out to hook/stick routes and even as he drifts out towards a target and that guy works across his face, Colson is typically able to deny them clean separation.
- Patient in man-coverage against RBs and lets them show him where he’s gone instead of prematurely tilting one way.
- Has some impressive reps of being mugged up and not allowing swing/flat routes to outflank him.
- Sturdy to deal with tight-ends pushing at him and not allowing them to push off on him, in order to create separation.
- Michigan used a lot of simulated pressures and had Junior Colson in different spots at the line, where he needed to drop out and find work, in order to flood the underneath areas.
- Comes to balance and you don’t see pass-catchers be able to gain yards through him typically, with great stopping power.
- Was responsible for only 185 receiving yards and one touchdown across 36 targets and 342 coverage snaps last season.
Blitzing
- Junior Colson is a rugged blitzer, who will go through the chest of running backs and force quarterbacks to move off the spot when he arrives there.
- Showcases impressive closing burst as a blitzer and lights up passers when unaccounted for in protection.
- Can effectively flatten down the line and chase down plays from behind when brought off the edge, when they slant the end inside.
- Will gladly unload into interior linemen in order to free up his fellow linebackers on cross-dog blitzes.
- Whether as a hook-defender or true spy, Colson’s ability to track the quarterback’s movement and his secure tackling skills are a definite asset.
Weaknesses
- Can get pulled too far out of place by eye-candy and can’t take care of his run fit as a result.
- Seems a bit stiff in his ankles at times when breaking down/redirecting as a tackler or trying to create leverage as he’s about to initiate contact with blockers.
- Lacks some lateral explosion to scrape over the top of blocks and gets pinned away from the action on the backside as a result.
- Not the easiest mover in coverage either, where he can’t redirect smoothly and make up ground.
- Doesn’t have the wheels when offenses are able to clear out one side, to open and chase down receivers running drag routes underneath him.
Junior Colson's 2024 NFL Draft projection
While not quite as advanced in the way he reads the game as Clemson’s Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Junior Colson brings a lot of the same qualities while packing a little more thump in tight areas.
He’s more susceptible to being pulled off his landmarks by false information from the offense and there’s some tightness in his redirection, but he actually deals better with head-on contact.
As a coverage defender, he’s sturdy enough to deal with tight ends running into him but also dictating terms to receivers trying to clear his area, plus then he’s become an elite tackler, with a miss rate of below five percent last season.
Once again, you want him to operate in a somewhat limited area for those shortcomings not to come to light, but he can be an asset lining up at the line of scrimmage and either condensing the pocket or muddying up looks when he can drop out to a spot in more of a straight line.
The ceiling may be somewhat capped, but I have a tough time seeing Junior Colson not find a role at the next level, best suited as a stack-backer for an odd-front team in the middle to late second round.
Junior Colson Grade: Late second round.
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