LSU Fall Camp Evaluations: The Linebackers
The LSU Tigers are eight days away from their season opener against Florida State with this program quickly hitting its stride down the stretch.
With Fall Camp in the rearview mirror, it provided a chance to evaluate the Tigers defense led by linebacker Harold Perkins.
A player who shined as a freshman in 2022, it’s expected the second-year star takes that next step this fall.
How did Perkins look during preseason practice? What about the rest of the linebacker unit?
A dive into LSU’s linebackers:
Harold Perkins
Perkins enters his second season in Baton Rouge with lofty expectations. After taking the country by storm in his freshman campaign, this program is ready to see their star linebacker take that next step in 2023.
During Fall Camp, Perkins was relatively quiet as he continues transitioning to an inside linebacker role, but flashes of greatness took shape towards the backend of preseason practice.
There’s a level of excitement when Perkins is on the field. A player who can make a highlight reel play in an instant, you can’t blink when he’s on the field and he has the chance to level up in year two in defensive coordinator Matt House’s scheme.
Omar Speights
Speights made the decision to transfer to LSU from Oregon State with an opportunity to play against the best of the best on a routine basis. The move from the PAC-12 to the SEC was an easy decision for the All-Conference linebacker as he prepares for his final season of college ball.
Speights will serve as the starting linebacker alongside Perkins, forming quite the one-two punch at the second level. During Fall Camp, it was on full display. The two complement each other extremely well and we got a taste of that during preseason practice.
A quick, strong linebacker, Speights is a workhorse. He gets from Point A to Point B well for his size and the ability to get downfield and close out on opponents is impressive. Heading into the season, it’ll be intriguing to see how the duo of Speights and Perkins pans out.
Greg Penn III
At times, Penn can be forgotten about within this LSU defense, but he’s as consistent as they come at the second level. With Perkins stealing the show a season ago, Penn’s production flew under the radar.
Now with Speights in the fold alongside Perkins, Penn will serve as the No. 3 linebacker on this roster, but make no mistake about it, he’s going to get his cracks in Matt House’s defense.
During camp, Penn took reps with the first team all month and has the chance to carry his success from a season ago into the fall. A selfless player, it’ll come together rather quickly for the third-year Tiger.
The Weeks Bros.
Second-year Tiger West Weeks and true freshman brother Whit Weeks have primarily served as the second-team linebackers for LSU during Fall Camp.
For West, he looks poised to take that next step and it showed during preseason practice after coming up with a few big-time plays, including an interception in the back corner of the end zone on Garrett Nussmeier through 7-on-7 work.
When it comes to Whit, he’s a star in the making. A player with tremendous upside, he has people within the LSU program excited for what’s to come. He’s a savvy, quick linebacker and his history as a running back shows in his game with his elusiveness.
