Whit Weeks calls Harold Perkins the 'best defensive college football player in the world'

A year ago, two-time All-SEC linebacker Harold Perkins was LSU‘s defensive representative at SEC Media Days in Dallas. This year, before Tigers junior middle ‘backer Whit Weeks made the trip to Atlanta for the league’s annual unofficial kickoff event, Perkins had some words of wisdom for the man he’ll line up beside as the beating heart of LSU’s 2025 defense.

“He said, ‘Just go be yourself,'” Weeks said Monday on the first day of the 2025 SEC Kickoff Media Days event from the Atlanta Omni Hotel in downtown Atlanta. “I got to spend a lot with Harold this offseason just throughout our rehabs, and me and him became really close. He was a shoulder I could lean on, no matter what. Days that looked long for me, Harold was right there: ‘Hey, bro, keep your head up. We’re going to get through this together.'”

Both Perkins and Weeks are coming off season-ending injuries that cut 2024 short — Perkins suffered a torn ACL in his right knee four games into the year, while Weeks suffered a gruesome ankle injury in the Texas Bowl vs. Baylor. Rehabbing together this past offseason, the Tigers’ dynamic duo are arguably the SEC’s top linebacker tandem, even as Perkins makes the full-time move from inside to outside as a standup pass rusher.

“Look, Harold had to make the ultimate commitment: do I go to the NFL or do I come back? And he made that choice,” Kelly said of Perkins on Monday. “Now you don’t come back unless you have the expectations that you’re going to be a dominant player. He’s got the ability to do so. I think we’re helping ourselves as a team by moving him to an outside ‘backer position. And we’re helping him, because I think that’s his next stop (in) the NFL.”

While Weeks broke out last season with a team-high 125 total tackles, which had him tied for second in the SEC, Perkins’ best season so far came as a true freshman, when the five-star Texas product burst onto the scene and finished ranked third in the SEC with 8 1/2 sacks and tied for second with 14 tackles for loss despite only starting eight games that season.

It’s that flash of potential that excites Weeks about lining up next to a fully healthy Perkins next season.

“Oh, I can’t wait. I can’t wait to be out there playing with Harold (again). He’s the best defensive college football player in the world,” Weeks said of Perkins. “So, being able to play with him, he makes it easy to be a good football player because you know he’s going to be out there making plays, and you want to make plays for him too.

“The sky’s the limit for Harold,” Weeks added. “He’s the best athlete I’ve probably ever seen in my whole life. If you let Harold be Harold, he’ll be a superstar. And it’s not going to be hard for him to be a superstar.”