Exploring how LSU can maximize Harold Perkins' talent in 2024
Entering the 2024 college football season, a ton of hype currently surrounds Harold Perkins and the LSU Tigers.
During the latest episode of Andy Staples On3 with Andy Staples, J.D. PicKell joined the show to discuss how the Tigers should use their star defender in 2024, keeping his NFL future in mind.
“It’s a really interesting push-and-pull, and you’re going to see this in Baton Rouge, and in State College this year, Harold Perkins and Abdul Carter, kind of in a similar situation. Both are phenomenal pass rushers, but they are really light. 220, 225 pound range. So they’re not going to be pass rushers in the NFL,” Staples started the segment, comparing the defensive stars. “The question is, how much do you concentrate on developing them for a future NFL position, and how much do you just let them go get the quarterback, because they’re good at that now, and you’re job is to go win games in college.”
Evidently, PicKell recognizes Perkins’ future in the NFL, but he believes it’s up to Brian Kelly and the LSU coaching staff to utilize their star defender in a way that’ll help the Tigers most in 2024.
“I think you do all that you can to help them, for their NFL prospects. Like you just said, anytime you can put a graphic on your wall in your facility and say, ‘Harold Perkins, pick No. X is doing XYZ in the NFL because he developed here,’ that’s great. But at the end of the day, like you just said, you want to go and win football games,” PicKell explained. “Brian Kelly is being paid, and probably has tremendous incentives, but how many football games that he does win. So I don’t know if it’s a matter of moving Harold Perkins from inside linebacker to outside linebacker, but the point remains like, you have to maximize him, like Brian Kelly said.
“Harold Perkins probably isn’t sticking around Baton Rouge a whole lot longer, especially if the NFL comes knocking the way that we expect it to for him. So with him being on your roster, it’s like, ‘Hey, iron is hot. Let’s strike right now.’ Whatever he does in college, I mean that’s the NFL’s problem, to develop him as well, and make sure that they have a spot for him to be successful at. So I’d love to see, let him eat. Like everybody else, I want to see Harold Perkins put on a show.”
Harold Perkins is supremely talented, and the NFL will surely beckon him after this season, but it’s easy to see why Staples and PicKell think the Tigers have to maximize his time in Baton Rouge, especially if they want to make some noise in 2024.