Harold Perkins took the entire country by storm his freshman season. He didn't play much in the Tigers season opener against FSU in 2022, but in just his second collegiate game, Perkins recorded seven tackles against Southern.

Perkins would make his presence known in the Tigers third game of the 2022 season. In a 31-16 win over Mississippi State to open SEC play, Perkins totaled five tackles and 1.5 sacks. He would go on to finish his freshman season with 69 tackles, 7.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and one interception while spending most of his time as a pass rusher.

Going into the 2023 season, Perkins was expected to be one of the best defensive players in the country. Everyone thought he was going to be an elite edge rusher who was able to drop into coverage when needed, but in the first game of the season, Perkins was used as a pass rusher just seven times, finishing the game with four tackles, two QB hurries and a 39.4 PFF grade.

His usage became a big topic of debate after the Tigers fell 45-24 to the Seminoles, and Brian Kelly said they're trying to develop Perkins into a true linebacker and are focused on getting him ready for the next level.

The transition from a pass rusher to a true linebacker took a couple of games. In the Tigers first two games of the season, Perkins gave up three catches for 74 yards, but after that, he really settled into his new role.

In the Tigers SEC opener, Perkins allowed just one catch for -1 yards and recorded one sack, one pass breakup and two stops. After the Tigers first SEC win, they traveled back home to prepare for their game against Arkansas.

If you remember, Perkins single handedly won the Arkansas game for LSU in 2022. In a 13-10 defensive slugfest, Perkins totaled eight tackles, three sacks and two forced fumbles. He didn't quite match that performance this year, but he still pieced together a really nice game, allowing one catch for eight yards and finishing with five tackles, three stops, two forced fumbles, four pressures and one sack.

While the Arkansas game was his best statistically, his biggest game of the season came in the Tigers lone top-10 win this season. Perkins was used in coverage 46 times and was targeted 10 times for five catches, 33 yards and one interception. That interception proved to be huge as Missouri was doing whatever they wanted on offense, but once Perkins baited Brady Cook into throwing that pick, LSU went on a 39-17 run to close out the game.

Perkins would have a couple solid outings against Auburn and Army, combining for 11 tackles, three pressures, one sack, five stops and allowing just two yards in coverage before the Tigers hit the road for Tuscaloosa.

In 2022, Perkins pieced together a pretty nice game against the Tide with eight tackles, one sack and one pass defense, but this season, like the rest of the defense, Perkins had his struggles. He finished with five tackles, three missed tackles, and allowed 51 yards in coverage while receiving his second lowest grade of the season (49.0).

Despite the bad showing, Perkins would finish the season with 20 tackles, eight pressures, two sacks and one forced fumble in the Tigers final three games of the season.

He finished his sophomore campaign with a team high six sacks and recorded 70 tackles, 22 pressures, 30 stops, three forced fumbles, one interception and four passes defended. In coverage, despite giving up 74 yards in the first two games, Perkins allowed just 239 yards and no touchdowns in 259 coverage snaps.

While Perkins may not have had the season many expected due to his new role, he was still the best defensive player LSU had this season and still was able to come up with some big plays when the Tigers needed him the most.