JD PicKell: Harold Perkins is 'Flex Seal' for LSU defense

Harold Perkins is one of the most talented linebackers in college football and LSU is quite lucky to have him.

On3’s J.D. PicKell had an even better description of the feared defender. He called him “Flex Seal.”

Television products aside, PicKell made sense of why that perfectly describes the LSU linebacker on The Hard Count.

“He is such a playmaker to me — he’s a lot like Flex Seal,” PicKell said of Perkins. “Y’all know what I’m talking about. I know you’ve seen the commercials of that spray that you can spray on anything and it immediately takes care of whatever hole that was there.

“We’ve seen ridiculous things where they put Flex Seal on a screen door. Put it on a boat and they’re floating in the ocean. That’s what Harold Perkins is — he’s Flex Seal for this defense. Any problem, any issue that the [opposing] offense tries to present, Perkins is so athletic, so instinctual, dynamic. He’s the answer.”

As a freshman, Perkins finished his first season for 72 total tackles, 39 solo tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, one interception, two pass deflections and four forced fumbles.

As a member of the Class of 2022, Perkins was a five-star recruit out of Cypress (Texas) Cy Park, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 2 overall prospect in the state, the No. 1 linebacker in the class and the No. 9 overall prospect in the class.

“I’m excited about what Matt House has been able to do with him, even this spring,” head coach Brian Kelly said of Perkins’ improvement prior to the spring game. “We’ve put him in a position now where I think we kind of drew some things up on the sand for him last year just to utilize, a young player that is so gifted. And now he is in a structured situation relative to playing a particular position, the Will linebacker position. But we can do a lot of things with him.

“I think his growth, relative to a football player, recognizing what we can do now? With a guy that is going to be playing that position? (It’s) going to be fun. It’s going to be exciting.”

Perkins is the biggest key to LSU’s defense. And if the Tigers want to get back to the SEC Championship and make the College Football Playoff, they’ll at least need another stellar year out of the linebacker.