Dallas Cowboys 2024 Draft: Scouting Report for Michigan LB Junior Colson

We continue our 2024 NFL Draft review of draft prospects that the Dallas Cowboys may be interested in. Today we'd like to introduce you to Junior Colson, a linebacker from Michigan State.

junior colson
lb
michigan wolverines
junior
4 star recruit
6’2”
238 pounds
Hand – 10 inches (75%)
Arm length – 32 1/2 inches (57%)
Wingspan – 77 1/2 inches (75%)

history:
Junior Colson was a four-star recruit out of Ravenwood High School, where he played soccer and then switched to football. He chose to play at Michigan and joined the team in 2021.

As a freshman, he was a rotational player at linebacker, but as the season progressed, he started more and more. He played 521 snaps on defense and had 60 tackles and one tackle for loss.

In 2022, Colson played as the team's starting linebacker starting in Week 1. He played 727 snaps at Michigan and recorded 101 tackles, his single-season career high. He also recorded six tackles for loss and two sacks.

He continued in his role as the starting linebacker in 2023, playing 662 snaps for Michigan. He made 95 tackles, two of which were for loss.

Statistics for 2023:
662 Defense Snap
Total tackles 95
2TFL
36 Defense Stop
13 Pressure
0 bags
2 PBUs
0 penalty

NFL Combine/Pro Day:
Not applicable

Awards:
Second Team All-Big10 (2023)
Second Team All-Big10 (2022)

scorecard:
Overall – 87.2
Speed ​​- 85
Acceleration – 88
Agility – 83
Strength – 89
Tackle – 90
Run Stop – 80
Pass rush-62
Discipline – 98

Good things:

• A very athletic man for his size.
• Speed ​​and agility are best achieved within range, allowing you to stay in phase with the receiver on your route.
• He is a very capable tackler, makes few mistakes and can go for big hits.
• You can also see the strength when coming down and taking blocks.
• Shows excellent awareness when going into coverage or versus play action
• Very good at finding ball carriers in trash cans.

bad person:

• Lack of natural instincts in run defense
• Changing direction in an open field can be a bit slow
• Although he has the power to catch blocks, he lacks the hand technique to release blocks.
• There are moments when you guess where you are instead of reading landmarks
• Requires confusing tracking angles

Fit:
Junior Colson is a rare combination of size, speed and strength for the off-ball linebacker position. Not only is he a great tackler, showing insane hand strength to grab ball carriers, he also has plenty of moments on tape where he hits opponents hard. His speed also helps in coverage, making him ideal for this role in a Cover 2 defense.

The areas Colson will need to hone his skills in are block shedding and run defense. He relies so heavily on his speed and power that he has never learned technique in either respect. We can see that he relies on the fact that he can always recover if he uses his athletic characteristics. In the NFL, this is a big problem because he is on par in terms of athletic ability. The opposite phenomenon may also occur, and he may hesitate or fail to move down the hill when the opportunity arises. This indicates an instinctive problem where he either didn't recognize the situation or committed to a different lane by guessing.

Overall, Colson is still a great linebacker and should develop as an inside linebacker with enough coaching. His rookie year should be taken slowly and see a lot of rotation and special teams work together to eventually elevate him to the starter role.

Comparison:-
Dorian Williams, Buffalo Bills

School year:
Middle to late second round

Consensus ranking:
49th place
(Consensus ranking based on average ranking of 90 major scoring services)