Harold Perkins Jr. Confirms Return To LSU, And Tigers Add 14th Portal Player

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU linebacker/edge rusher Harold Perkins Jr. is not going pro just yet, and he is not transferring elsewhere.

Perkins, a projected first round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft entering the 2024 season, confirmed on social media Friday that he will be staying at LSU for the 2025 season – his fourth as a Tiger. Since last month, word was Perkins would be back, as Tiger Rag reported on Dec. 16.

“I’m back,” Perkins said on a video Friday.

Unfinished Business | He’s Back pic.twitter.com/pKMbfcofoT

— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) December 27, 2024

Perkins suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in his right knee in the fourth quarter of LSU’s win over UCLA on Sept. 21, had surgery, and was lost for the season after just four games. He finished with 17 tackles with 1.5 for loss and a fumble recovery as he played linebacker and the Star position, which is a combination safety and linebacker.

As primarily an edge rusher in his 2022 true freshman season, he was a freshman All-American and an All-Southeastern Conference second team player with 7.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss along with four forced fumbles, an interception and three passes defensed in just eight starts. In 2023, Perkins started 13 games and collected another 5.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss with three forced fumbles, an interception and six passes defensed.

Considering how Perkins has not played as well as a linebacker or a “Star” than as an edge rushter, it may behoove LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker to give him a hard look next season on the edge.

Meanwhile, LSU added its 14th player from the NCAA Transfer Portal in Northwestern starting offensive guard Josh Thompson, who will be a fifth-year senior next season. Thompson (6-foot-5, 301 pounds) started last season at right guard for the Wildcats, who finished 4-8 overall and 2-7 in the Big Ten. Thompson started the 2023 season at right tackle when Northwestern finished 8-5 and 5-4.

Geaux Tigers pic.twitter.com/NE6YG4FdAW

— Josh Thompson (@ThompsonJoshMI) December 27, 2024

According to Pro Football Focus, Thompson did not allow a sack and just eight quarterback hurries in the 2024 season after giving up two sacks and 27 pressures in 2023. He played in eight games in 2022 as a redshirt freshman after not playing in 2021.

Thompson is the No. 66 overall portal prospect by 247sports.com and the No. 6 interior offensive lineman. He signed with Northwestern as a 3-star prospect, the No. 46 interior offensive lineman in the nation out of Fenton High in Fenton, Michigan, in 2020 and enrolled in 2021.

LSU’s 2024-25 TRANSFER PORTAL CLASS (14 signed or committed)

-No. 2 Overall and No. 1 Edge Patrick Payton, Florida State.

-No. 10 Overall and No. 5 WR Nic Anderson, Oklahoma.

-No. 18 Overall and No. 8 WR-RET Barion Brown, Kentucky.

-No. 36 Overall and No. 2 CB Mansoor Delane, Virginia Tech.

-No. 43 Overall and No. 6 DE Jake Pyburn, Florida.

-No. 53 Overall and No. 4 Interior OL Braelin Moore, Virginia Tech.

-No. 66 Overall and No. 6 Interior OL Josh Thompson, Northwestern.

-No. 71 Overall and No. 8 CB Ja’Keem Jackson, Florida.

-No. 92 Overall and No. 13 QB Michael Van Buren, Mississippi State.

-No. 125 Overall and No. 14 DE Jimari Butler, Nebraska.

-No. 128 Overall and No. 8 TE Bauer Sharp, Oklahoma.

-No. 307 Overall and No. 25 DT Sydir Mitchell, Texas.

-Unranked WR Destyn Hill, Florida State.

-Unranked P Grant Chadwick, Middle Tennessee State.