Suntarine Perkins
Ole Miss#84 overallDraft Movement
Down 23 spots since Jun 8
Scouting Report
Suntarine Perkins is a 6'1", 220-pound linebacker from Raleigh, Mississippi, where he became the state's top high school prospect and a unanimous five-star recruit. A two-way force at Raleigh High, he led his team to its first state championship in 2022, rushing for over 2,000 yards and 32 touchdowns as a senior while recording 92 tackles on defense, before choosing Ole Miss over Alabama, Georgia, and Texas. He earned Freshman All-American and Freshman All-SEC honors in 2023 with 38 tackles, 5.5 TFLs, and 3.5 sacks across 13 games, then took a significant leap as a sophomore in 2024, tying for the team lead with 14.0 TFLs and 10.5 sacks in 13 games while helping anchor the nation's top rush defense. He grades as a potential first-round pick and one of the top linebackers in the 2027 class, with a coverage profile in the 94th percentile as his defining trait. Evaluators call him a fantastic athlete who could play off-ball linebacker or even safety but note that his projection is currently difficult given he logged only 49 total snaps as a box defender through his first two college seasons, with most of his snaps coming as an edge rusher in a two-point stance. His sudden burst and top speed give him impressive pursuit range, and his smooth zone drops and high school safety background make him a natural fit for covering running backs and some tight ends. The concern across evaluators is consistent: at 210-220 pounds, Perkins is an outlier even among shrinking modern linebackers, struggles to shed blocks once offensive linemen get into his pads, and has not accumulated meaningful volume at the off-ball linebacker position he will likely need to play in the NFL. Scouts want him to add five to ten pounds of functional weight and log more snaps in a true linebacker role before his junior season concludes, as the best-case projection is a three-down weakside linebacker in a coverage-heavy scheme. He underwent shoulder surgery before his junior year in 2025 but returned to s
The Tape
Strengths
- Elite coverage ability for a linebacker, grading in the 94th percentile in coverage
- can match tight ends in man coverage and trail backs out of the backfield
- closing burst as a blitzer is a real weapon when he gets a clean rush, as evidenced by 10.5 sacks as a sophomore
- processes blocking schemes quickly and finds the ball in traffic with natural instincts developed as a high school safety
- explosive first step and top-end pursuit speed give him rare sideline-to-sideline range in run defense
- can convert speed to power when pass rushing and generates pressure even against bigger blockers by staying low through long-arm moves
- versatile alignment experience lining up on the D-line, off the ball, or walked out over the slot without hesitation
- steady year-over-year improvement in run defense grades demonstrates coachability and willingness to grow
Weaknesses
- Light at 210-220 pounds for an every-down linebacker
- will struggle to stack and shed NFL-caliber blockers consistently once offensive linemen get their hands on him
- only 49 career snaps as a box defender through his first two seasons, making projection at off-ball linebacker difficult with limited verified tape
- pass-rush production dipped in 2025 despite a larger snap count and expanded role
- missed tackle rate hovering around 14 percent needs significant improvement for the next level
- shoulder surgery heading into junior year is a durability flag that scouts will monitor
- no interceptions or forced incompletions in first two college seasons despite high snap volume in pass-coverage situations
- lacks the size and mass to play any full-time pass-rushing role at the NFL edge position despite spending most college snaps there
NFL Comparison
Marte Mapu, Sacramento State (small-school tweener with safety instincts and coverage traits deployed as a hybrid linebacker); Harold Perkins Jr., LSU (comparable size, explosiveness, and dual-threat profile; both players face questions about weight and positional definition at the next level); Deontae Lawson, Alabama (similar sub-230-pound build and coverage-first linebacker projection in a defense that uses speed over bulk)
College Stats
2023 (Freshman): 38 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 13 games, 2 starts; 2024 (Sophomore): tied team lead with 14.0 TFL, 10.5 sacks, 13 games, helped anchor the nation's top rush defense; Career: 41 games, 1,701 college snaps
College Market Value
Our model prices him at $1.03M on the open college market, built from production, pedigree, role and Ole Miss's program money. No credible deal has been reported for him this season.
Every P4 player priced, math public: College players & NIL · Roster spend
Measurables
Awards & Honors
Unanimous five-star recruit; consensus top-100 national recruit; Freshman All-American (2023); Freshman All-SEC (2023); All-SEC Third Team (2024); All-America Honorable Mention (2024); Bednarik Award preseason watch list (2025); Lombardi Award preseason watch list (2025); Nagurski Award preseason watch list (2025); SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll; Dean's Honor Roll; Named to Bednarik Award preseason watch list; earned elite grades across the major recruiting services as a five-star, top-100 prospect