2024 IDP Redraft Target: Junior Colson
Had Junior Colson landed anywhere but the LA Chargers led by his former head coach in Michigan, you’d be reading this article in the IDP SuperStash Dynasty section of Fantasy In Frames. If we don’t have one, we’d open it for guys like JC. Kidding. But read on and find out why and how 2024 IDP Redraft Target Junior Colson can help your fantasy team win big, and that’s no joke.
Junior Colson is a rookie landing in an extremely favorable environment, the oft-injured LA Chargers D-Unit, led to new horizons by his college head coach, Jim Harbaugh. He spent three seasons in Michigan collecting 257 tackles, 143 of them being assisted tackles. He was the Wolverine’s main offense reader, and his communication affluence was often mentioned in the same breath as his defensive skills by his coaches. Having said that, he is a work in progress after being the 69th pick, as his run-stopping must be improved, and he lacks elite speed. His best ability is his availability, as he missed no games and soldiered on, playing through several injuries.
Colson sure is one for the future, but the future may be now as Drue Tranquill, Eric Kendricks, and Kenneth Murray have all left the building, paving the road for the young Michigan defensive leader to shine.
Colson accommodates for his lack of speed with his vision and footballing IQ and is agile and athletic enough to thwart DBs in coverage and to hound ball carriers from the backfield into the arms of his teammates. The high number of assisted tackles suggests this trait. He spent 76% of his 2023 season college snaps in the box but was lining up all over the field, with several snaps per game reserved for slot and outside corner. With such versatility, and coaches trust, Colson will find his way to the field.
And when he does, oh boy, he will be noticed. He excelled in coverage in ‘23, 7.4 yards per catch and allowing 120 yards after the catch. His tackle rate in his last two seasons was 20.2%, resulting in 206 tackles. He showed great efficiency, too, missing just 12 tackles in his entire college career.
As a rookie in a tepid 2024 linebacker class, Colson is being drafted in the late double-digit rounds, sometimes even as late as round 19, at the start of the offseason. However, as news of the Chargers coaching staff started to trickle and Colson recovered from the injury that kept him from the combine, he is now a hyped-up asset going as high as the late fifth or early sixth round.
Colson is an unproven and probably rotational player in the season’s early weeks. Knowing that linebackers take time to acclimate, I’d pass him at such a steep price. Going into a draft intending to take Colson, you should read the room and count the linebackers coming off the board and your blessings.
Perhaps the best strategy if you see him go early, meaning the single-digit rounds, is to let his manager get frustrated in the first several weeks and then swoop in and trade for Colson, as he may fight his way among the starters and get you those crucial fantasy points in the fantasy playoff games.
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