Instant analysis of Chargers selecting LB Junior Colson

The Chargers have added their first Wolverine player of the Jim Harbaugh era.

But it wasn’t running back Blake Corum or wide receiver Roman Wilson, both heavily rumored to be landing in LA sometime on Friday evening.

Instead, it was linebacker Junior Colson, who I mocked to the Chargers with this selection in my first projection at the beginning of April. Colson should compete for playing time with 2023 third-rounder Daiyan Henley next to veteran Denzel Perryman, who signed this offseason in a reunion.

Perryman turns 32 in December, however, and was signed to just a one-year deal. The plan will almost certainly be to start Henley and Colson in the long term, with Colson at middle linebacker and Henley in more of an outside linebacker role.

Adopted out of Haiti in the wake of the devastating 2010 earthquake, Colson has one of the more heartwarming stories in the draft. But his play is anything but wholesome – he’s a hard tackler with the athleticism to cover the entire field. He does so cleanly: Colson was not penalized a single time in 2023.

Colson has said before “unless I can’t physically move, I’m going to be out there playing.” That’s exactly the mentality Jim Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz are looking for in this new era of Chargers football.

And now, Colson will bring that toughness to Los Angeles.