Harold Perkins was a top-eight recruit in the 2022 class. After a stellar freshman season focusing only on rushing the passer mostly, head coach Brian Kelly switched things up last season and will continue to this coming season as Perkins enters his junior season.
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Perkins played 513 snaps as a freshman, including 163 rushing the passer. He had ten sacks and 41 total pressures.
Last season, he started the first game of 2023 as an inside linebacker, and it didn't go well for him. In their opening week loss to Florida State, he played his worst game of the season with just two pressures and four tackles, according to Pro Football Focus.
When spring practice begins for the team next week, though, Perkins will be back in that spot, according to The Advocate.
Harold Perkins is going to play inside linebacker again.
In an interview with @theadvocatebr today, Brian Kelly explained the plan for the LSU star.
"He needs to be more involved in the linebacker fits inside... It's going to make us a better defense.”https://t.co/XsHJ88w7NX
— Wilson Alexander (@whalexander_) February 26, 2024
"He needs to be in the action," Kelly said in an interview Monday. "He needs to be the (weakside) linebacker. He needs to be in the box. He needs to be active in there. That's where he's going to start, and we've got to get him ready at that position."
After the Florida State game, Perkins didn't return to that position. He finished the year with 24 pressures and six sacks, seeing plenty more time in coverage (291 snaps in 2023 versus 130 in 2022).
Following that loss, Kelly said "we started him in the box and felt like we didn't make the kind of progress necessary for us to continue in that vein, so that's why we moved him."
While his 2023 season was far from bad, as you can see above, he had more production as a freshman.
"We felt like we could manage it better with him there," Kelly said. "We don't want to manage it. We want to get him in a position where he can impact the defense, where he will play at the next level. I think we owe it to him."
According to The Advocate, Perkins with play the "Star" in new defensive coordinator Blake Baker's scheme which is usually "played by defensive backs and replaces the strongside linebacker in certain packages. Similar to a nickel corner, the Star often has to cover slot receivers."
In coverage last season, Perkins allowed 27 receptions on 42 targets for 276 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception.
"He could cover a little bit," Kelly said. "You don't want him playing the slot man-to-man, but he could get out there and cover. He could blitz off the edge. In Blake's defense, that's what the Star does. But that's not really where we want Harold to be."
Baker has a history of getting the most out of linebackers, including for LSU player Damone Clark, and during his time with Missouri, Ty'Ron Hopper was a Butkus Award finalist.
"We can lock him into some specific things that will allow him to really play fast," Kelly said. "The key is he's got to play fast. He's got to be able to utilize his talents. And so we've got to be able to help him out with that."
Listed at six-foot-one and 220 pounds, Kelly, according to The Advocate, projected Perkins as an inside linebacker at the NFL level. He is now entering his junior season, where team scouts will monitor him more than ever in anticipation of the 2025 NFL Draft.
"Whether it was scheme or whether it was our inability to get him to where we wanted him, he needs to be more involved in the linebacker fits inside," Kelly said. "That's going to get him ready for the next level. It's going to make us a better defense."
So, while Perkins has had production in other positions in this defense, Kelly is looking out for his future and getting him prepared for that.
