South Carolina Football: The Top 10 Gamecocks for the 2012 Season

South Carolina is a team that may have surprised you last season.

The Gamecocks won 11 games—doing so with its starting quarterback going nuts and its starting running back out for a good portion of the season.

This year the team returns 13 starters, including seven on offense and six from a defense that ranked third in the country a year ago.

But which players on this roster are the most important?

Is it the players on the offensive side of the ball because there isn't a lot of explosiveness to replace? Or is it the talented defensive players that keep this team in games even when the offense struggles to put up points?

As we inch that much closer to September, here are the 10 most important players for the 2012 South Carolina football season.

10. Kicker

South Carolina lost kicker Jay Wooten to graduation, which means that redshirt freshman Landon Ard will get his chance to take over.

Ard is a former walk-on, who has a tremendous leg and is capable of handling field goals and kickoffs. Senior Adam Yates will also have his shot to compete for the starting job, as well. 

Whoever ends up as the starting field-goal kicker must do a better job than Wooten did last year. South Carolina ranked ninth in the SEC last season, converting on just 63 percent of its field goals.

9. Wide Reciever: Bruce Ellington

South Carolina needs playmakers on the offensive side of the ball and wide receiver Bruce Ellington was one of the few players that stepped up last season.

As a freshman last year, he averaged over 12 yards a catch, rushed for 106 yards and returned kickoffs. He isn't the biggest receiver at 5'9" and under 200 pounds, but he has great speed and can take one to the house every time he touches the football.

Ellington has decided that he will play both basketball and football this season, but expect his role to expand with more experience and for him to score more than the two touchdowns he had last season.

8. Safety: D.J. Swearinger

The video truly tells you all you need to know about Swearinger.

He missed all of the spring with a foot injury but will be ready to go by the time the season starts.

For the last two seasons, he has been one of the top tacklers on this team, finishing last year with 80, while intercepting three passes. He is a very aggressive player, who makes plays all over the field. He is also durable, having played in every game of his three-year career.

Expect another big season for the Gamecocks starting free safety.

7. Spur: DeVonte Holloman

Holloman is one of the leaders on this defense as he enters his senior season, but he will have a chance to make more plays as he moves from strong safety to the spur position.

He finished last season with 51 tackles, four tackles for loss and an interception. His experience, coverage skills and athletic ability cannot be replaced, which makes him a very valuable part of this talented defense.

6. Linebacker: Shaq Wilson

Shaq Wilson returned last season after missing all of the 2010 season due to a hamstring injury.

He finished the year with 52 tackles, five tackles for loss and a sack. Considering that he is a fifth-year senior, he will provide leadership and, of course, hard hits across the middle. Wilson plays the game with a very aggressive style and will make the ball carrier think twice about wanting that football.

Wilson is just one of many returning seniors in the back seven of this defense.

5. Defensive End: Devin Taylor

Devin Taylor is one half of one of the best defensive-end duos in the entire country.

Last season, the junior DE finished with six sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss, 42 tackles and an interception. He is a lot to deal with at 6'8", 267 pounds and has proven to be a consistent pass rusher in the SEC.

As Taylor heads into his senior season, he is one of the leaders on this defense and a player whom opposing offenses must account for at all times.

4. Quarterback: Connor Shaw

Shaw took over midseason in 2011 and had his fair share of ups and downs throughout the year.

With that said, for a first-year starter he did have many bright spots and showed that he can lead this team to victories. He finished the season throwing for over 1,400 yards, rushing  for 525 yards and scoring 21 total touchdowns.

He also finished out the year extremely strong, leading the Gamecocks to victories against Clemson and Nebraska.

A healthy Marcus Lattimore (RB) and the dual-threat Shaw will form an interesting 1-2 punch this year. Shaw is a very important piece to this team, not just because he is the quarterback, but because there isn't much behind him on the depth chart.

3. Center: T.J. Johnson

The Gamecocks had one of the worst pass-protecting offensive lines in the country last season, allowing their quarterback to get sacked a total of 30 times.

Now, with a few of those players graduating, there are even more question marks with this unit moving forward.

One of the most solid linemen that South Carolina has is senior center T.J. Johnson. He has started every game at the center position for South Carolina since he stepped on campus and was a huge reason for the Gamecocks running success last year.

This may be an area of concern heading into fall camp, but having a leader and reliable starter in the middle is something that the Gamecocks can feel good about.

Johnson was placed on the watch list for the Rimington Trophy, which goes to the best center in the country.

2. Defensive End: Jadeveon Clowney

Clowney was one of the top recruits of the 2011 class, and he didn't disappoint in his freshman season.

He ended up second on the team in sacks with eight and had 36 tackles, 12 which were for loss. With a full season under his belt, even bigger things are expected from this talented defensive end—especially after his head coach called him out.

Clowney has the perfect combination of size and speed. He can make plays from sideline to sideline and easily blow by bigger offensive linemen.

The former 5-star recruit is quickly becoming one of the better defensive linemen in the country and should have an extremely productive sophomore season. 

1. Running Back: Marcus Lattimore

With the lack of playmakers on the offensive side of the ball, the Gamecocks desperately need Marcus Lattimore in the backfield.

The junior running back is a Heisman candidate when he is healthy .

He is an extremely difficult player to tackle. Before he suffered a season-ending knee injury last season, he rushed for 818 yards and scored 11 touchdowns. In 2010, he totaled over 1,500 yards rushing and receiving and scored 19 touchdowns.

Lattimore is arguably the top back in the SEC and one of the best backs in the entire country.

If he is fully recovered from last season's injury, he gives this team a huge spark on offense and a solid chance of winning the SEC East.