By Matt Moscona
It took one game a season ago for the Harold Perkins experiment at inside linebacker to end. Brian Kelly might be at the same crossroads two games into the 2024 season.
After a boisterous freshman All-America season in 2022, Perkins tallied five quiet tackles in a 45-24 loss to Florida State to open his sophomore campaign. A night where the most dynamic player on the LSU defense found himself shedding 300-pound lineman instead of harassing quarterbacks was all anybody needed to see.
Perkins would spend the rest of the season in a Nickel/SAM role where he thrived, matching or exceeding all of his freshman numbers en route to Second Team All-SEC honors.
Despite new defensive coordinator Blake Baker’s insistence that Perkins can play off the ball, he’s managed just one solo tackle and a half a tackle for loss in two games.
The man that every offense had to account for in 2022 has been neutralized again by his own coaches—and Kelly knows it.
On Wednesday’s SEC coaches teleconference, Kelly was asked about sophomore linebacker Whit Weeks, who is having a terrific start to his sophomore campaign. In limited snaps, Weeks is tied for the team lead with 12 stops, six solo and 1.5 TFLs.
“He’s been our top performer,” Kelly admitted. “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 and that’s going to prompt us to make some tough decisions relative to the linebacker position.”
The tough decisions are actually singular. He’s talking about Perkins.
NFL scouts want to see Perkins play inside to see if he projects as a three-down linebacker as a pro. But, how do you move a first round NFL talent for the second year in a row after spending the entire offseason training him to play inside?
That is a tough conversation but one that Kelly appears ready to have.
“His consistency,” Kelly continued on Weeks, “his ability to make plays has given him the opportunity to be on the field and he can’t be in a platoon situation.”
Contrast that with what Kelly said Monday about his defensive backs where he said none of them is prepared to play 60 or more snaps in a game, so they will have to rotate four of five each at safety and cornerback.
Derek Stingley would play every snap at corner. Jamal Adams would never leave the field at safety. I’m not suggesting Weeks is an All-American like those two, but he has that potential. And most importantly, your defense is better when he’s on the field.
This isn’t a slight at Perkins. He’s magnificent. He’s not being propped up because of a high school star rating. We have actually seen him take over games at the college level. Perkins changed the Ole Miss outcome in 2022. He was un-blockable against Arkansas that season. LSU asked him, as a freshman, to spy Heisman winner Bryce Young in the Tigers’ overtime win.
Harold Perkins is a sensational football player. He’s just not an inside linebacker. At least not yet. And LSU doesn’t have the luxury of experimenting with Perkins inside while Weeks sits and watches. That’s a disservice to both players and to the rest of the defense that would thrive with both players on the field in their natural roles.
Dale Brown wouldn’t have let Shaq play point guard just because he wanted to try. You wouldn’t hitch a trailer to a sports car. And you shouldn’t ask Harold Perkins to stuff the run when he should be impacting the game with his otherworldly ability off the edge.
In the last two seasons as Missouri’s defensive coordinator, Baker’s units have amassed eight sacks and 18 TFLs against South Carolina.
Kelly couldn’t dream up a better scenario to unleash Perkins in his natural habitat.
