Harold Perkins erupted onto the scene as a true freshman in 2022. The former four-star LB wasn't expected to produce too much as a freshman, but he made himself known with massive performances against Mississippi State and Ole Miss early in the season.

After the Tigers win over the Rebels, Perkins became a household name and went on to finish the 2022 season with 7.5 sacks and 41 pressures. At that point, everyone expected him to become one of the best linebackers we've ever seen at LSU. However, some poor choices about his position in 2023 caused him to fall off the radar a little bit.

Entering 2024, Perkins had high expectations. Matt House was gone and the Tigers brought in Blake Baker, one of the best LB coaches and defensive coordinators in the game. Despite that, Perkins didn't have the start to the season everyone envisioned.

Through the Tigers first four games, Perkins totaled 16 tackles (five solo), but hadn't recorded a single sack and had just four pressures to his name. It felt like they were almost trying too hard to scheme around Perkins, and it made him and the rest of the defense slow down a little bit.

Unfortunately for Perkins, he suffered a season-ending ACL injury when trying to make a tackle over the middle of the field against UCLA. Up until this weekend, we hadn't seen or heard much about Perkins since his injury, but on Saturday, he showed out for LSU's game against Vanderbilt.

On Monday, Brian Kelly was asked about Perkins' recovery, and he said he's gone through the early stages of the ACL repair, and it's time for him to start working hard again.

"He's doing really well in his recovery," said Kelly. "I talked to Owen Stanley, our athletic trainer, and [Harold Perkins] has been in the building quite a bit. Now that he's done with the early stages of the repair, now it's about hard work."

When Perkins went down with the season-ending injury, it cause lots of fans to speculate about whether or not they'd seen the last of Harold Perkins in a LSU uniform. He was a projected first-round pick before the injury, but since then, he's been absent from most first-round mock drafts.

So, will Harold Perkins return to LSU in 2025?

As of today, nobody knows. Brian Kelly was asked about it on Monday, and he said Perkins hasn't made the final decision yet, but they'd love to have him back and are providing him with the resources to make the best decision for him.

"I don't know that he's made that final decision. I know he's weighing the options and clearly we would love to have him back. We know those decisions are not easy so we'll support him in whatever he decides and provide him with all the resources necessary to make the best decision for him and his family."

Perkins will have to make his decision by January 15th at the latest. It was be a massively storyline that we will follow very closely as that date approaches. If the Tigers can retain Perkins, it'll help offset the loss of Greg Penn III.

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