By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – LSU’s next man up” mantra will be severely tested.
It was confirmed Sunday night that Tigers’ junior linebacker Harold Perkins Jr., a projected first-round pick in the NFL’s 2025 draft, tore an anterior cruciate knee ligament in Saturday’s win over UCLA and is out for the season.
He’s the third LSU player this month to sustain a season-ending injury, joining reserve running back John Emery Jr. (torn ACL) and starting defensive tackle Jacobian Guillory (Achilles tear).
Perkins, who had 17 tackles and 1½ tackles for loss for the 3-1 Tigers, started the first two games this season at weakside linebacker which is his projected position in the pros.
In the last two games, he started at strongside linebacker as new defensive coordinator Blake Baker sought to put Perkins in various spots where he could rush the passer.
A 5-star recruit who was rated as the fourth-best high school player in the Class of 2022 by ESPN, Perkins burst into the national spotlight as a true freshman for his pass rushing that wrecked offenses.
During three weeks, he earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors vs. Ole Miss and followed with back-to-back SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors vs. Alabama and Arkansas.
Starting just eight games, he was named All-SEC first team and a freshman All-American. He finished the year with 72 tackles and led LSU in tackles for loss (13) and sacks (7½).
Last season as a sophomore, then-LSU defense coordinator Matt House had Perkins start the season at middle linebacker. He struggled dealing with offensive linemen outweighing him by 100 pounds and House quickly moved him to different spots to take advantage of his speed on the edge of defenses.
Still, he led the team in tackles for loss (13) for the second straight year and finished with 75 tackles and 5½ sacks.
Just before the start of this season, he was awarded by the LSU coaching staff the coveted No. 7 jersey, which annually goes to the best playmaker on the team.
LSU head coach Brian Kelly, not knowing the extent of Perkins’ injury immediately after the 34-17 victory over the Bruins, speculated what the Tigers would do if Perkins had to miss playing time.
“We can still stay in our buffalo package,” Kelly said. “We can go back into our dime package, dropping (safety) Major (Burns) down. So, we’ve got a lot of options there.”
LSU starting linebacker Whit Weeks said after the win that losing Perkins would be a blow.
“We’re definitely gonna have to step up, because he has become a very vocal leader this year,” Weeks said. “He’s the guy that’s firing us up in the huddle and getting everything right.
“We’re gonna have to rely on somebody else to do that for us, but we’ve got a bunch of leaders on defense.”
LSU plays its last of four non-conference games this Saturday at 6:45 p.m. in Tiger Stadium vs. South Alabama. After an open date, the Tigers play their last seven SEC games in eight weeks starting by hosting unbeaten No. 5 Ole Miss on Oct. 12.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com