LSU enters the 2023 season expected to be one of the top teams in the SEC, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the Tigers feature a couple of the league’s top talents.
On3’s Jesse Simonton recently ranked the top-10 players in the SEC, and a pair of LSU players made the list. [autotag]Harold Perkins[/autotag] is the headliner as he’s expected to have a monster sophomore season after emerging as LSU’s top pass-rusher as a true freshman.
Now, Perkins is likely to see a bigger role playing off the ball at inside linebacker, and Simonton ranked him No. 2 in the league.
Perkins has a chance to make his case as the best overall defensive player in the country in 2023, especially if he can show growth as a run-defender. The former 5-star phenom racked up 72 tackles, 14 TFLs, 8.5 sacks and four forced fumbles as an undersized true freshman.
He’s put on weight this summer and cross-trained at inside linebacker, where the freaky edge rusher is expected to be utilized as an X-factor blitzing from multiple angles in Matt House’s defense.
Perkins was joined by [autotag]Malik Nabers[/autotag], who came in at No. 6. Nabers emerged as the top target for [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] as a sophomore last fall, and he’s expected to become one of the nation’s top receivers this season.
The Tigers had the SEC’s No. 5 passing attack in 2022, but Nabers returns as the league’s top receiver in yards (1,017) and receptions (72). While he caught just three touchdowns, expect that number to jump significantly after he emerged as the Tigers’ go-to option down the stretch last season.
In LSU’s final four games, Nabers averaged seven catches for 122 yards, with two of his three scores coming during that period. Nabers was an ankle-breaker after the catch, too, forcing 21 missed tackles (fifth-most among all Power 5 wideouts), per PFF.
LSU struggled a bit to find explosive plays in the vertical passing game last fall. But with Nabers leading a talented group of pass-catchers, that could change in Year 2 under Mike Denbrock’s system.
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