‘My life has done a full 360’ — LSU star defender Harold Perkins Jr. highlights his growth after difficult college career
Harold Perkins was destined to be a superstar, but his football career took a slight detour.
It hasn’t been the easiest career for LSU Tigers linebacker Harold Perkins.
After his true freshman season, it looked like he was going to be a megastar at the college level. He logged 7.5 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss. There was discussion about him being a top-10 pick in the draft at either linebacker or edge rusher. Ultimately, he took a slight step back in 2023, and the 2024 season was disastrous when he suffered a torn ACL after playing just four games.
Harold Perkins used adversity to grow
While he returned in 2025, Perkins didn’t have the same aura or explosiveness that he did as a freshman. When you have those big expectations, it can wear you down. Perkins used his struggles to grow as a person.
“It was tough. I had dreams of going to LSU, my dream school, wear that [number] 7 and graduate,” said Perkins at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I had plans to do all that in three years, but God had other plans for me.
“At the time, I didn’t really know about that. I wasn’t trying to hear that everything happens for a reason, but my mom gave me some great advice — lock in with God. Started reading my bible more, started rebuilding my faith.
“My life has done a full 360. Everything has changed: my mentality, how I was thinking. I was in a dark place. That was the first time I’ve been through some adversity on the field.”
Getting himself in a better spot mentally is going to do Perkins a lot of good moving forward, especially since his draft stock is significantly lower than it was three years ago. Even so, Perkins still offers a rare combination of coverage skills and pass-rush ability at 6-1 and 222 pounds.
Whoever ends up getting him will have a player ready to go from both an on and off-field perspective.
NFL Draft
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