BATON ROUGE — Brian Kelly says the LSU football defense could roll out more three-linebacker sets moving forward, starting with its matchup at South Carolina on Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ABC).

Obviously, that base scheme the No. 16 Tigers (1-1) use each week will be dependent on what formations and personnel groupings opposing offenses use but for LSU, it's equally imperative that it finds ways to get its best players on the field.

The linebacker corps is where fans will notice the more changes. Star junior linebacker Harold Perkins and senior Greg Penn III have been the starting duo in the middle of the defense. But Kelly has lauded the way sophomore Whit Weeks has performed through two games this season, going as far as Wednesday during his SEC teleconference appearance saying he doesn't "need to be in a platoon situation, meaning he needs to be on the field for the majority of plays.

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"They all have to play," Kelly said Thursday after the team's practice. "We have to be creative with our defensive structure. (Defensive coordinator Blake Baker) understands that and that's a good thing for us. I think we understand that we have some position flexibility. Whit's played some Mike linebacker, Harold's played Will, played some Sam. So we've got great flexibility with both of those guys.

"We feel like it's important that the guy that's playing their best get on the field."

Perkins led the defense in tackles in the season-opening loss to USC in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. But he only had four stops against Nicholls last Saturday.

Through the first two weeks, Weeks is tied for the team lead in tackles with Perkins and senior safety Major Burns with 12. Penn has 11 tackles in two games.

Kelly said against teams where the quarterback is essential to the team's run game, like how South Carolina utilizes freshman quarterback Lanorris Sellers, LSU could revert to more of a 4-3 or 3-3 front alignments, which would allow Perkins to play more on the edge where he could rush or cover.

Sellers has carried the ball 30 times so far this season, averaging just 1.9 yards per carry. But his involvement keeps defenses honest.

"Now that we're seeing tight ends in the core, two tight ends, you look at Tennessee for example. Everybody talks about Tennessee's offense and it's an outstanding offense, they're running a lot of 12 personnel," Kelly said. "You're seeing a lot more three linebacker sets now. We all know the coverage variations begin to shrink a little bit. That's why we love 12 with the tight ends we have.

"You're going to see more three linebacker sets because of the offenses that we're seeing."

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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU coach Brian Kelly: Defense could use more 3 LB sets. Here's why