Why the Chargers selected Michigan LB Junior Colson

Junior Colson gets the chance to play with Jim Harbaugh in Los Angeles as a member of the Chargers.

With the 69th-overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Chargers selected Michigan linebacker Junior Colson. After months of assuming that the Bolts would select at least one Michigan player, Harbaugh gets one of his former team leaders and it fortunately comes at a position that the defense was truly hurting for.

Entering this week’s draft, the Chargers had only four linebackers signed to the roster in Denzel Perryman, Daiyan Henley, Nick Niemann, and Troy Dye. Two of them were signed earlier this offseason and Perryman is most certainly a short-term signing as the team rebuilds that position group in the short-term. Colson provides a bonafide field general who already has immense knowledge of the defensive system that Jesse Minter will deploy with in Los Angeles.

At 6’2 and just under 240 pounds, he’s your prototypical modern-day linebacker with a well-rounded game that was strong enough to help the Wolverines win the CFP National Championship earlier this year. He’s a downhill player that can sift through traffic and pursue opposing ball-carriers with little wasted movement. He’s a sure-tackler and I don’t have to express just how badly the Chargers have needed that at the second level.

In pass coverage, he can reads formations well and does a good job of rallying up to bring down pass-catchers over the middle before they have a chance to gain extra yardage.

The Chargers got great value with Colson falling to the third round as he was a consensus second-round pick by most draft outlets. His pro comparisons have included a pair of Chiefs linebackers in Nock Bolton and Willie Gay. Both of those specific players have been integral in the Chiefs defense becoming one of the best units in the NFL over the past two seasons and if the Bolts get that level of production out of Colson early, they’ll be in a good position to turn that side of the ball around hastily.