Wisconsin football X-factors: A deep dive into DL Charles Perkins
Charles 'Perc 30' Perkins is a huge part of the Wisconsin Badgers' defensive line overhaul and could very well be the cream of the crop.
In Year 3 of the Luke Fickell era, Wisconsin football has a handful of players who are known quantities.
Yet a good chunk of the roster is comprised of players who are difficult to project for 2025. Whether they have yet to don the Cardinal and White or appear to have untapped potential, the Badgers have plenty of “X-Factors” slated for key roles this fall.
Our breakdowns of these players continue with defensive lineman Charles Perkins.
X-factor series: Billy Edwards Jr. | Tackett Curtis | Trech Kekahuna
Charles Perkins, who transferred to Wisconsin from FCS UT-Martin, was part of a significant haul of front seven additions from the portal this offseason that also included defensive linemen Jay’Viar Suggs (LSU) and Parker Petersen (Tulane).
Suggs obviously comes from an SEC powerhouse. Petersen was a hot commodity after playing like the big fish in a small pond at Tulane. Still, after diving into his film, I believe Perkins may have the highest ceiling of the bunch.
First of all, you can’t miss him. At 323 pounds, he’s the second-heaviest lineman on the Badgers’ defense behind Ben Barten (325). What’s more, he’s got one of the biggest personalities on the team. The Memphis, Tennessee native’s distinct southern drawl was constantly booming off the walls of the McClain center when I dropped by to cover spring practice. Perkins has also acquired the hilarious if not slightly problematic nickname “Perc 30.”
But let’s get into actual football. Transfer portal recruiting, especially along the offensive and defensive lines, can be a maddeningly inexact science. I’m of the belief that past the top five percent or so of prospects, physical traits and skills are a better indicator of who will succeed at their new program, then, say, statistics or recruiting site rankings.
That is to say, Perkins has a few traits that stand out immediately. The buzzword when he got to Madison was “twitch.” After watching his film from the 2024 season, I’ll get a little more specific and assert that for an absolutely massive human being, he’s extremely light on his feet.
*Note: As per his nickname, Perkins wears #30
Here, he’s face-to-face with a quarterback in the open field. He doesn’t bite on the pump fake, and he changes direction quite smoothly to wrap him up and collect the tackle.
Now, that’s not to say you necessarily want Perkins in the open field. For as surprisingly athletic as he is at his size, he’s still a defensive lineman, after all. The big man hits the deck hard here:
The next clip might be the best all-around play Perkins put on tape last season. He certainly demonstrates how light he his on his feet here, sprinting out to the flat to tackle the quarterback and force the fumble. But there’s so much else to like on this play: Perkins easily disposing of the tackle trying to block him, tracking the ball correctly, not getting juked out when the opposing quarterback puts his foot in the ground and of course, ripping the ball out for a forced fumble:
That ability to track the play and wind up around the football came up time and time again. Very rarely did Perkins ever overrun a play — rather, he was adept at letting the play come to him. More often than not, he wasn’t fooled by any sort of window dressing (motions, options, ect.) offenses used to try to disguise their design.
Below, he snuffs out a triple option play, tracking the ball the entire time.
Of course, diagnosing and making the play are two very different things. But Perkins did both with regularity.
A defensive lineman can read the play all he wants, but if he can’t get off his block, its’s a moot point. Perkins was exceptional at creating penetration into the backfield at the FCS level, a skill that could really only be attributed to Elijah Hills — albeit far from consistently — on the Badgers’ 2024 defensive front.
One of the most consistent ways Perkins got into the backfield last season was by easily sidestepping — or sometimes going straight through — puling offensive linemen.
First of all, if you’re going to pull your offensive linemen, they still need to actually find someone to block. Below, Perkins works his way into the backfield before a lineman can pick him up, recording an easy safety: