Keeping tabs on LSU freshman linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. will be one of the first orders of business for Georgia’s offensive line when they make their pre-snap reads in Saturday’s SEC Championship.
“You definitely want to figure out where he’s at on the field,” Bulldog right tackle Warren McClendon said.
A quick perusal of Perkins’ bio on LSU’s official website sums him up succinctly.
“Disruptive linebacker who presents challenges to offenses. Difficult to block,” it reads.
“You know where he's at when he's out there, right?” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “They're going to use him in different ways. They've changed the way they use him throughout the year, but that's what good defensive coordinators do. They try to find different ways to put him in maybe a mismatch and utilize him.”
Perkins’ numbers are indeed impressive.
At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Perkins has burst on the scene for the Tigers, teaming with BJ Ojulari to give LSU one of the more dynamic linebacker pairs in the entire SEC.
Of his 59 tackles, 10 have gone for losses, including 6.5 sacks.
“Harold has always been a special player; just seeing him show great flashes in practice of his speed and capability off the edge,” Ojulari said. “Just being able to see him in SEC games dominating, it's really no surprise, just the stuff that he's able to do, how he can help our defense, how instrumental he's been to the defensive play.”
Perkins has already shown how he can take over a game.
In LSU’s win at Arkansas, Perkins was a one-man wrecking crew, collecting three sacks for losses of 27 yards, with a pair of forced fumbles.
“He's very, very talented,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said. “He’s just got to bring his traits and talent together. If he brings both of those, he is an elite and special player.”
It will be up to the Bulldog offensive line to make sure that does not happen.
“You have to know where he is, and you need to know where he is at all times, because he's really athletic,” Smart said. “He is very disruptive, and you make your team aware of it.”
The Bulldogs have obviously faced talented linebackers before.
Alabama’s Will Anderson proved a chore in last year’s SEC Championship before the Bulldogs successfully handled him in the national championship.
However, there are currently no comparisons that work. That’s not a knock on Perkins, however.
“They’re different players in their career. They use them in different ways,” Smart said. “LSU has got a little different defense than what Alabama used. But they're both explosively quick, powerful, and disruptive.”
