Dan Wolkenstein of the Charger’s Unleashed podcast has high hopes for the Los Angeles Chargers third-round draft pick, Junior Colson. Colson was picked with the 69th overall pick in the draft out of Michigan.
Wolkenstein’s belief in Colson is premised on the fact that he was the ‘quarterback’ of Jim Harbaugh and Jesse Minter’s defense while at Michigan, giving Colson a leg up when making the jump from the college to the pro game.
“He’s gonna be comfortable from the get go, which is huge for a rookie, said Wolkenstein, He doesn’t have to learn the defense. You can hit the ground running. How crazy is that? I can’t think of a scenario where somebody can quarterback the defense, from a player perspective, who is connected that intimately with the head coach.”
Los Angeles Chargers New Defensive General
Wolkenstein believes that Colson will wear the ‘green dot’, which signifies the player who is in direct communication with the sidelines via an in-helmet radio. Not only will he instantly be in a leadership role the second when he steps foot on to the OTA practice field this spring, but he will also be the player relied on by the coaching staff to teach the defense to the team, including high-level star players
“[Colson’s] the guy who’s actually facilitating the plays to the rest of the team. He’s literally going to be the one being listened to by veterans. He’ll be teaching Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack, Derwin James the plays”
Because Colson will have so much influence on the defense, one he has a firm grasp on, a large part of the success of Chargers 2024 season will fall on his shoulders, mainly on his ability to lead a group that contains some of the leagues biggest defensive stars as well as many young inexperienced players.
Wolkenstein hangs his hat on this theory in part due to a ringing endorsement given to Colson from his former defensive coordinator and current Seattle Seahawks head coach, Mike McDonald. Wolkenstein relayed a story about when McDonald was asked about who the best player on his defense was. Most expected him to answer Aidan Hutchinson, former 1st round pick and Michigan’s game-wrecking edge rusher. But he said it was Junior Colson.
