Perkins eating to 'eat' with LSU hungrier for better defensive results

DALLAS — In order to have LSU junior linebacker Harold Perkins eat, coach Brian Kelly made him… Well, eat.

The idea is that a bigger, stronger Perkins will feast on Southeastern Conference quarterbacks.

To “eat” is sports jargon to produce. It’s not like Perkins, who once was committed to Texas A&M, was on a diet in his first two seasons.

As a freshman, he posted 73 tackles and 8.5 sacks. Last season, he had 75 tackles and 5.5 sacks.

Impressive numbers but maybe a little misleading.

Though the tackle total increased, Perkins wasn’t the dominant force last season that he was as a freshman when he earned All-SEC and freshman All-American recognition.

A move from outside linebacker to inside was seen as a factor in that decline. Playing at less than 220 pounds, he just wasn’t big enough to excel as an inside linebacker.

Kelly is convinced those stats can grow if Perkins does.

“We would have tied him down and made him eat more,” Kelly said about his offseason plan for Perkins. “You know, we had an issue relative to his weight gain, and we didn't feel like that it really was his best position to be inside.

“I just felt like we were still in the developmental process with Harold. I just felt like we were needing to put him in the best position possible to succeed to now where he is physically in a position, and he's matured. He now is able to be in more than one position.”

Look for LSU to line up Perkins in the middle of the defense. And on the edge. Hell, he could drop back to safety.

“I’m a ball player,” Perkins said on Monday at SEC Media Days. “I can play anything from running back, quarterback, receiver, linebacker, D-line … whatever.

“I feel like I can do anything I put my mind to.”

He probably could. But to fully impress, he needed to ingest.

He attacked rice, gravy, corn, sugar and no doubt all kinds of cajun cuisine with the same fervor he attacked Arkansas quarterbacks in 2022. Perkins had four sacks that day.

Perkins said his playing weight fluctuated between 215-217 pounds in 2023. This year, he expects to play between 222-225 pounds.

The hope in Baton Rouge is that extra mass enables him to shine like the sparkling faux diamond grill he wore over his teeth on Monday.

There are other reasons that Perkins could break out even further this season. Along with food, Perkins also consumed vast amounts of film.

Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK

Harold Perkins, left, has earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice and SEC Freshman of the Week during his career.

“I’ve been watching a lot of film,” he said. “I’m not just going out there and playing. My freshman year, I just went out and played. I didn’t have no worries.

“This year, I’m actually locked in. I’m watching a lot more film. I’m taking my preparation to a whole new level.”

Quite frankly, LSU needs Perkins to be better than his previous best.

He has been good. Really good. But not good enough to prop up LSU’s sagging defense.

The Tigers ranked 13th in the SEC in total and scoring defense last season.

Eight opponents scored at least 30 points. Florida State had 45. Alabama had 42. Ole Miss had 55. All, of course, were losses.

Complicating matters, defensive tackles Maason Smith, Jordan Jefferson and Mekhi Wingo were all selected in the NFL Draft in April. Efforts to replenish the interior line through the transfer portal failed.

LSU compensated with the nation's highest-scoring offense. But Heisman-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels and NFL first-round choice receivers Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. have departed.

Defense must be better, or LSU could get chewed up and spit out in the SEC meat grinder.

Defensive coordinator Blake Baker was lured away from Missouri to rebuild the LSU defense, but there’s not much more reason to project the unit to be significantly improved.

Perkins disagrees.

“We’re demanding greatness out of each other,” he said. “We know what happened last year. We just use it as motivation.”