Many Michigan football players are debating whether to play in the NFL or return to school for another season following the team’s national championship victory.
And include Junior Colson, the linebacker, in the latter category. The former top-100 prospect and junior linebacker is headed to the draft. On Thursday afternoon, he made the declaration.
“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Michigan,” Colson wrote in a letter. “The last three years of my life have been shaped by my time in Ann Arbor, an experience I am incredibly grateful for and will always treasure.
“I am honored and humbled to announce that I will officially be declaring for the 2024 NFL Draft.”
At 6-foot-3, 246 pounds and with no shortage of experience, Colson is commonly viewed as a mid-range NFL Draft prospect. According to Pro Football Focus’s preliminary 2024 big board, Colson is the No. 130 overall prospect, and the No. 6 linebacker prospect.
This season, Colson led Michigan with 95 tackles, and added two tackles for loss and two pass breakups. Prior to bowl games being played, the junior led the Big Ten and was second among 172 power-five linebackers in missed tackle rate (three on 82 opportunities). He also improved in coverage (6.3 yards per target allowed) and against the run (11th among power-five linebackers in PFF’s run defense grade, 2nd in run-defense tackling).
Colson is largely unproven as a pass-rusher (2.5 sacks compared to 257 career tackles) and ball-disrupter (five pass breakups, zero forced fumbles or interceptions in his three seasons at Michigan), but will be well-liked by NFL scouts for his hard-hitting abilities and comfort playing through injury.
With his size (6-foot-3, 246 pounds) and rather large sample size of film (he has now played 1,791 defensive snaps and recorded 240 tackles in 41 games), now might be the optimal time to strike.
As we wrote in December, “The way opposing coaches talk about Colson seems to suggest he could be a day-two draft pick and that he’s Michigan’s best defensive player, but that doesn’t seem unanimous among scouting services. If NFL feedback hints that Colson could be a top-100 pick, we would expect him to take the leap now. But if the feedback is more tepid now, and optimistic about the future, we could see Colson coming back with eyes on an All-American senior season.”
Colson joins a growing list of Michigan starters who are either out of eligibility, have accepted draft showcase bowl invitations or declared for the NFL Draft. Also included on that list are running back Blake Corum, wide receiver Cornelius Johnson, wide receiver Roman Wilson, tight end AJ Barner, tackle Karsen Barnhart, tackle LaDarius Henderson, guard Trevor Keegan, guard Zak Zinter, center Drake Nugent, defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, edge Braiden McGregor, edge Jaylen Harrell, linebacker Michael Barrett, cornerback Mike Sainristil and cornerback Josh Wallace.
In Colson’s place, Michigan will turn to Ernest Hausmann, who had 46 tackles as a backup this season, Jimmy Rolder and Maryland transfer Jaishawn Barham, who had 37 tackles last year for the Terrapins. Jaydon Hood, Micah Pollard and Christian Boivin also recorded tackles at linebacker for the Wolverines this season.
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