BATON ROUGE – Harold Perkins Jr., one of college football’s top defensive playmakers, has been named to the preseason watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Football Writers Association of America announced.
The Nagurski Trophy is presented annually to the nation’s top defender by the Charlotte Touchdown Club. LSU’s Glenn Dorsey won the award in 2007.
Perkins, now in his third season with the Tigers, has established himself as a game-wrecker on the defensive side of the ball. In two years, he’s tallied 26 tackles for loss and 13 sacks. He’s also forced seven fumbles and intercepted a pair of passes. He has 147 career tackles.
Perkins showed his versatility last year in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Wisconsin when he scored his first career touchdown on a 1-yard run in the 35-31 LSU victory. It was Perkins’ first offensive snap as a Tiger.
Perkins, who also excels in the classroom, earned first-team All-SEC honors as a true freshman in 2022 followed by second-team recognition last year. He earned SEC Academic Honor Roll status in 2023 as well as First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll in 2022.
As a rookie, Perkins was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week twice, SEC Freshman of the Week once and was named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the road win over Arkansas.
