One of the biggest questions surrounding LSU’s defense entering the season was how the Tigers would use third-year linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. Apparently, after two weeks of the season, they still don’t know.
LSU’s Struggles To Utilize LB Harold Perkins Jr. Continue
After earning first-team all-district honors at both RB and LB as a junior and senior in Texas, Perkins was a consensus top-10 recruit in the 2022 class.
The New Orleans native originally committed to Texas A&M but flipped to LSU late in the process, saying his decision came down to his home state school’s ability to develop NFL-level linebackers. Unfortunately, the Tigers have struggled to live up to that reputation for Perkins.
Despite having future NFL LBs Mike Jones Jr. and Micah Baskerville and EDGEs BJ Ojulari and Ali Gaye on the roster, LSU couldn’t keep Perkins off the field. At 6’1″ and 210 pounds, he was primarily deployed off the edge but did see time at inside LB and in the slot.
Perkins generated 72 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, and four forced fumbles en route to second-team All-SEC and Freshman All-American recognition.
At the beginning of his sophomore season, the Tigers planned to start Perkins at middle LB. But after Florida State took advantage of his smaller frame in the ground game, the Tigers quickly moved him to the SAM position, where he’d drift out to the slot against spread offenses.
Perkins’ numbers were similar to his true freshman output — 75 tackles, 13 TFLs, 5.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, and six PBUs — but he also started five more games, and his overall impact ran hot and cold.
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At SEC Media Days, head coach Brian Kelly confirmed Perkins gained 15 pounds this offseason and would move back to inside linebacker in 2024, seeing it as his NFL future. Kelly went on to call him “an every-down linebacker who can play sideline-to-sideline.”
Kelly and new defensive coordinator Blake Baker recognize Perkins is one of LSU’s top talents, awarding him the prestigious No. 7 jersey, traditionally given to the defense’s premier playmaker.
After a volatile opener against USC, Kelly stuck to his guns about Perkins’ position.
“I like him inside at the core of our defense,” Kelly said. “I think what Blake talked to him about, and what Blake and I talked about, is we need to get him to narrow his focus a little bit more … He has a tendency where he wants to do a little bit too much.
“He’s so eager to want to make a play because we put him in that playmaker position so much. When you work in the areas he works, your focus has to narrow down a lot more.”
But after little to no improvement against FCS-level Nicholls in Week 2, LSU has seemingly given up on the project — again.
Leading up to the Tigers’ SEC clash with South Carolina on Saturday, Kelly said the defense could roll out more three-LB sets moving forward, putting Perkins, Greg Penn III, and sophomore Whit Weeks on the field at the same time.
“Now that we’re seeing tight ends in the core, two tight ends, you look at Tennessee, for example. Everybody talks about Tennessee’s offense and it’s an outstanding offense, they’re running a lot of 12 personnel,” Kelly said.
“You’re seeing a lot more three-linebacker sets now. We all know the coverage variations begin to shrink a little bit. That’s why we love 12 with the tight ends we have. You’re going to see more three-linebacker sets because of the offenses that we’re seeing.”
But it’s not only because of the offenses LSU is seeing. There are two other reasons why Baker is bringing another LB into the fold:
- Perkins simply cannot hold up in the box against the run.
- Weeks has outperformed his rotational role and deserves more playing time
In the last two games, Penn took one outside LB spot, Perkins moved inside, and senior safety Major Burns manned the hybrid STAR role — a safety/LB blend frequently seen on the collegiate level. This week, Perkins has been practicing at the STAR.
“I think we’ll continue to work on that this week and see where we end up Saturday,” Kelly said. “We go back and forth in terms of Harold’s production and wanting to get him involved as much as we can.”
Kelly took time to commend Weeks, saying he’s been “outstanding” and “has put himself in a position where it’s going to be difficult for us to take him off the field at any time.”
Weeks, Perkins, and Burns are currently tied for the team lead with 12 total tackles, but six of Weeks’ have come unassisted, and he leads the trio with 1.5 tackles for loss.
With the Gamecocks running the ball just over 70% of the time this season, it’s easy to see why LSU wants to sub a defensive back to bring Weeks onto the field and bump Perkins to the outside.
However, run defense isn’t the only aspect where having Perkins further from the middle of the defense will be beneficial for all parties.
Playing in the STAR should offer Perkins far more opportunities to pin his ears back and get after opposing QBs. While his lighter frame doesn’t allow him to spend most of his snaps on the edge, his pass-rush ability is by far his best trait.
That makes it all the more confusing why LSU has reduced Perkins’ pass-rush rate and increased his coverage rate in each of the last two seasons, especially considering LSU is averaging a paltry 7.0% pressure rate and has just two sacks so far in 2024.
The Tigers must figure out how to unlock Perkins’ potential — *cough* let him rush the passer *cough* — or they risk wasting one of college football’s most dynamic defensive talents.
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