As the 2025 college football campaign nears, the preseason honors keep piling up for Ole Miss standout linebacker Suntarine Perkins.
Perkins, fresh off being added to the preseason All-SEC roster as a second-team member, has been named to the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. The Raleigh native is one of 60 defensive standouts and 21 linebackers fans should expect to be in the running for the award that goes out annually to the nation’s top defensive player.
Perkins also stands as one of six top-15 sack leaders from a year ago to make the preseason watch list, with his 10.5 sacks as a sophomore finishing the 2024 campaign ranked tied for No. 10 in the FBS.
Already a preseason All-American by both Walter Camp (second-team) and Phil Steele (fourth-team), Perkins lit up the stat sheet for the Rebel defense as a sophomore in 2024. Perkins helped contribute to team program records in sacks (52) and tackles for loss (120), which both led the nation, ranking fourth on the team with 60 tackles while tying for the team lead in both TFL (14.0) and sacks. He was a stat leader on a defense that had five players drafted by NFL franchises.
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His 10.5 sacks ranked tied for second in Ole Miss single-season history. His most notable game last fall came against Oklahoma, where he notched 4 sacks – the most by a Rebel defender in a single game since 1993. In two years as a Rebel, Perkins owns 98 total tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, and 14 sacks across 26 games played and 10 starts.
The FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club will announce four finalists for the 2025 Bronko Nagurski Trophy in mid-to-late November, and the winner will be revealed at the Bronko Nagurski Awards Banquet on Dec. 8 in Charlotte, N.C.
No Ole Miss player has ever won the award.
Players may be added or removed from the watch list during the course of the season. As in previous years, the FWAA will announce a Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week each Tuesday this season. If not already on the watch list, each week’s honored player will be added at that time.
Ole Miss will kick off the 2025 season on Aug. 30 at home against Georgia State.
