Death Valley Voice
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LSU football continues piling up preseason accolades

By John Fye

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - OCTOBER 22: Harold Perkins Jr. #40 of the LSU Tigers reacts after sacking Jaxson Dart #2 of the Mississippi Rebels during the first half at Tiger Stadium on October 22, 2022 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - OCTOBER 22: Harold Perkins Jr. #40 of the LSU Tigers reacts after sacking Jaxson Dart #2 of the Mississippi Rebels during the first half at Tiger Stadium on October 22, 2022 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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The expectations are sky-high for LSU football in 2023. Indeed, last season’s resurgence has resulted in a gauntlet of award watch list honors.

Harold Perkins Jr. and Omar Speights are the latest Tigers named to a prestigious college football award’s preseason watch list. The LSU football defenders are two of the eleven SEC linebackers appearing on the list that seeks to award the top linebacker in college football.

Perkins is arguably the favorite to win the Butkus Award. The sophomore is coming off a breakout season in which he totaled 39 tackles, 7.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles. Perkins spent most of his time on the edge of the 2022 LSU football defense. However, defensive coordinator Matt House continues to work the New Orleans product at inside linebacker this fall.

Thus, we anticipate that Harold Perkins will always be around the action because playing inside linebacker will enable attacking the center gaps and both edges.

Omar Speights is an LSU transfer from Oregon State that looks excellent, thus far, in fall practices. Speights is a graduate transfer that passed up day three NFL draft potential for playing ball in Death Valley. He is expected to fill the void left by last season’s leading tackler, Micah Baskerville.

The Butkus Award is unique because it is annually issued to the most impactful linebacker in high school, college, and pro football. Drayk Bowen of Andrean High School (Ind.), Jack Campbell of the Iowa Hawkeyes and Roquan Smith of the Baltimore Ravens were the 2022 Butkus Award winners.

Devin White is the only LSU football alum to win the Butkus Award. The current Tampa Bay Buccaneers star earned such honors after the 2018 season.

LSU football players are featured on every college football award’s preseason watch list for 2023. Preseason watch lists might not seem like a big deal to some fans, but we accept them as earned hype.

Next. Top 5 LSU defenders to watch for in 2023. dark

Indeed, the Tigers earned their 2023 expectations after a 10-win season in Brian Kelly’s first as LSU head coach.

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