BATON ROUGE — One of LSU football's brightest stars will reside in the middle of its defense this season.

Harold Perkins is set to headline the Tigers' defense in his junior campaign, coming off a season that left most with a disappointing taste in their mouth, including Perkins himself. While he finished with 75 total tackles, good enough for fourth on the team, the 6-foot-1, 225-pounder didn't have the season he wanted as he had to learn a new position all the while trying to gain and maintain more weight.

A more comfortable Perkins is a more confident one and that's does nothing but help LSU's linebacking corp. Senior Greg Penn also returns after garnering 89 tackles last season, second on the defense. Senior West Weeks played in 13 games in 2023 while his younger brother, Whit, finished sixth on the team in total tackles with 49.

Filling out the linebackers are senior Kenzel Kelly, and freshmen Jake Ibieta, Tylen Singleton, Davhon Keys and Xavier Atkins.

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LSU football linebacker options

Projected starters: Harold Perkins, Jr.; Greg Penn, Sr.

Reserves: Whit Weeks, Soph.; West Weeks, Sr.; Tylen Singleton. Fr.; Davhon Keys, Fr.; Kenzel Kelly, Sr.; Jake Ibieta, Fr.; Xavier Atkins, Fr.

Albeit not terribly deep, what LSU rolls out there on Saturdays for starters is at or near the top of a linebacker duo in the SEC. Perkins and Penn are two of the top linebackers in the league and both have the ability to fill gaps to stop the run, pressure the quarterback, cover running backs and tight ends.

Whit Weeks getting as much playing time as he did last season hugely benefits this position group in 2024 as it gives the room another guy with bountiful experience playing high-level college football. West Weeks should be counted on more this season.

After those four, experience gets sparse as there's only more linebacker that's played for LSU before and that's Ibieta.

The upside

Under new defensive coordinator Blake Baker's scheme, linebackers do plenty of reading and reacting and it plays into the instincts of good linebackers.

Those characteristics bode well for Perkins, playing the Will linebacker position, and Penn who, at the Mike position, captains the defense and thrives in the more attacking style defense. Perkins will move around some so mismatches can be created and different looks formed.

Both of LSU's top linebackers are pretty well suited for Baker's plans and the more time they both get in the new scheme, the Tigers as a whole should look and play better on defense.

One question or concern

While it's a different situation, there has to still be some concern about Perkins playing inside and not on the edge. Perkins broke out as a freshman playing outside linebacker and wreaking havoc on quarterbacks.

Is Perkins playing inside the best route for LSU and this team's pursuit of making the new 12-team College Football Playoff?

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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 atbdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: What LSU football's LB room looks like heading into fall camp