As difficult as it might be to believe: Harold Perkins' freshman season was just a sliver of his future role.
The talent level -- which he showcased to the tune of 72 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 2 passes defensed and an interception -- made it impossible to keep him off the field. That's despite the fact that he really didn't have a lot of the linebacker position learned yet, just a trimmed down version orchestrated by DC Matt House.
That's all changing in Year 2 for the 5-star athlete out of Cypress, Texas.
"We didn’t want to get in the way of, you know, too much meant paralysis by analysis," head coach Brian Kelly said. "I thought Matt did a good job of making things a lot smoother for him so we could get him on the field and let him play fast."
That role was often almost as a hybrid nickelback. He was particularly effected as a QB spy, tracking many of the Southeastern Conference's elusive QBs and limiting that ability with well-timed blitzes and elite pursuit skills. The most obvious example came in the Tigers' upset of Alabama, with 8 tackles and a sack. He followed that up a 3-sack performance, including two forced fumbles, in a defense-fueled win over Arkansas.
But there's a lot more to his position, and his ability to take on the rest of those details and assignments will be a key to watch before he can take a true star turn as the next primetime linebacker out of LSU.
“We know Harold has some elite ability, but he came here to learn to play linebacker and not necessarily just a hybrid," House said, "and the spring is kind of a great time to do that. You learn the techniques and fundamentals associated with playing the stack position, still playing out in space some. It’s just going to enhance his game and what he came here to be.”
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