Why Harold Perkins Jr. and Maason Smith could be the freakish duo that punches LSU's ticket back to the SEC Championship

NASHVILLE — LSU took center stage on Day 1 of 2023 SEC Media Days, and while Brian Kelly and quarterback Jayden Daniels were the headliners for the reigning West Division champions, the most discussed Tiger was a budding sophomore lifting weights some 600 miles away in Baton Rouge. Get ready for the Year of Harold Perkins Jr. 

LSU’s second-year freak linebacker burst onto the scene in 2022, and expectations are sky-high for the former 5-star recruit this fall. The Tigers had a pretty solid defense last season, but with the return of defensive tackle Maason Smith coupled with the natural growth and progression from Perkins, the expectations are for the Bayou Bengals to tout one of the nastier units in the country in 2023. 

“I’m just glad (Perkins) is on my team,” Daniels told On3.  “He’s a different type of player. It’s phenomenal to see.”

Will the legend of Harold Perkins Jr. grow this fall?

Harold Perkins Jr. is switching to No. 4 this fall, but P-40 dropped bars in his debut season in the SEC.

Despite starting just eight of LSU’s 14 games, he amassed 72 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 14 QB hurries and 8.5 sacks. He set the school record with four sacks (and two forced fumbles) in the win over Arkansas, single-handily leading the Tigers to win over the Razorbacks to clinch the SEC West title. 

“Harold Perkins is a freak athlete. One of the plays that still shocks me is one of the plays against Arkansas. He just runs down (Malik) Hornsby. And I’m just like, ‘Man, that kid is supposed to be one of the fastest kids in the nation and you’re a linebacker running him down,’” Tigers tailback Josh Williams said Monday. 

“That was a big deal. And it was bad conditions outside. And he threw up that game before the game even started. He’s a well-rounded elite player.”

Perkins’ legend was born that November afternoon, but teammates saw the raw potential weeks earlier in practice when the Tigers were preparing for Mississippi State. The freshman joined the defensive linemen in a pass-rushing drill, and on a single rep, Perkins was instantly the most effective and terrifying rusher in the group. 

“He lined up, and we had never seen nobody on the defensive line just come around the corner and bend like that,” tackle Mekhi Wingo told On3.

“He hit ’em with a ghost move and just bent the edge. It was just amazing because we hadn’t seen anyone truly bend like that. And we were watching (outside linebacker BJ) Ojulari, but Perk did it in this crazy way. He exploded onto the scene that game.”

Against the Bulldogs, Perkins recorded six tackles, 1.5 sacks and four TFLs, adding a handful of pressures, too.

And yet, that performance was simply the appetizer for his “flu game” performance against the Razorbacks, which immediately became the stuff of legend among LSU fans when Kelly told reporters after the victory that the freshman phenom didn’t know who Michael ‘freaking Jordan was. 

Harold Perkins was sick with the flu before playing against Arkansas.

When Brian Kelly told Perkins that MJ played his best game while sick, Perkins asked:

"Who's MJ?"

(via @codyworsham) pic.twitter.com/QZaFYc5e5C

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 12, 2022

“He has Jordan shoes. He knows who Michael Jordan is,” Williams said. 

With that settled, the next question is what will Perkins have for an encore in 2023?

If more “flu games” are in store, then the Tigers will win the SEC West for the second-straight season and have a chance to make the College Football Playoff. 

LSU allowed just 22.3 points per game last season, but the rest of the Tigers’ defensive metrics were mostly middling. They could flash excellence, but consistency was lacking. 

That might change this year. 

Not only is Perkins expected to make a second-year leap. But the Tigers get former 5-star recruit and Top 10 prospect Maason Smith back at defensive tackle. Smith tore his ACL very early in the Week 1 loss to Florida State last season. He and Perkins have barely ever played together. Now, LSU gets to pair the two athletic freaks, allowing a guy like Mekhi Wingo, a former Freshman All-American who had 6.0 tackles for loss last season, even more room to create havoc.

By season’s end, the Tigers could legitimately have the two best individual defensive players in the SEC this fall. 

“Getting a guy like that back changes a lot of things,” Brian Kelly said. 

“We really didn’t have an inside guy that could win every single one-on-one match-up (last season). Maason will be one of those one-on-one match-ups. If you’re going to do that and protect the edges on every play against what we feel are going to be some guys that

can come off the edge, Harold Perkins in particular, you’re going to leave him singular inside, and we think he could have an incredible year if that’s the case.”

Perkins spent the spring learning LSU’s inside linebacker position. Second-year coordinator Matt House now has the luxury of lining up the 6-1, 230-pound linebacker all over the defense this fall, giving the Tigers multiple looks to change offensive lines needing to block Smith, Wingo and Perkins at the same time. 

Wingo couldn’t stop smiling thinking about the one-on-one matchups he’ll receive with Smith back and Perkins coming from all different angles. 

“Harold Perkins is a great player, and he is going to be able to wreck a game no matter where he lines up on the field,” Wingo said. 

“He makes everyone’s job easier because with him being a plug-and-play guy that can come off the edge, play a true linebacker, teams are gonna have to account for him.”

“Having those two guys on the field together, that’s gonna open things up for a lot of other players. For a guy like me, I have to win my one-on-ones playing with guys like that.”

LSU’s defense isn’t without its question marks. The Tigers remain a bit thin on the interior and their former DBU secondary is Transfer U group for the second-straight autumn. But with the 1-2 punch of Perkins and Smith, coupled with the upside of guys like Wingo and transfer linebacker Omar Speights, the potential is there for the Tigers to make major strides on that side of the ball this fall. 

If that happens? Well, it could be LSU’s ticket to return to the SEC Championship Game again in 2023.