Suntarine Perkins

OLB·Ole Miss#61 overall
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Draft Movement

#61 · Jun 8#61 · now

Holding at #61 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. NFLDraftBuzz rates him 87.2 overall with a 1st-round mid projection and ranks him 5th among 2027 linebackers, citing his 94th-percentile coverage grade as his defining trait. PFF lead analyst Trevor Sikkema called him a fantastic athlete who could play off-ball linebacker or even safety but noted 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. Chiefs Wire analyst Samuel Teets wrote that Perkins' sudden burst and top speed give him impressive pursuit range and that 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-he

Strengths

  • Elite coverage ability for a linebacker with 94th-percentile coverage grade per NFLDraftBuzz
  • 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 (70% similarity per NFLDraftBuzz; 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 nation's top rush defense per NFLDraftBuzz; Career: 41 games, 1,701 college snaps per NFLDraftBuzz

Measurables

Height
6'1"
Weight
220
40-Yd
4.58

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 per Ole Miss athletics; ESPN recruit rating 90/100; 247Sports rating 98/100; Rivals rating 6.1 (100th percentile)