Andre Ellington Is Key to Clemson for 2012-13 Season

Andre Ellington is among the top collegiate running backs, and any major success for Clemson is likely to go through the running back hailing from South Carolina.

Following his redshirt season in 2008, Eliington has seen a larger number of carries each season, and as such, he has continued to improve on his rushing statistics.

In 2009, Ellington had 491 yards, followed by 686 in 2010 and 1178 last season.

Even more impressive is the surprising scoring threat that Ellington provides.

Everybody knows that Ellington is a gamebreaker who can score anytime he touches the ball, but 21 touchdowns in his last two season is pretty remarkable for a relatively diminutive running back.

It's no surprise that when Ellington struggled, so did Clemson.

Of the four losses last year, Ellington missed the game against Georgia Tech and failed to rush for 100 yards against North Carolina State and South Carolina.

He was actually very effective in the loss to West Virginia, rushing for 116 yards and a score; unfortunately, every other player struggled in the embarassing defeat.

Clemson achieved a pretty nice balance between passing and running the football, but Ellington had 25 or more rushing attempts in only one game.

Furthermore, it is evident he is effective with those carries; he averaged 8.8 yards and 7.5 yards on the two occasions he had 20 carries or more.

Tajh Boyd, Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins can be as prolific a trio as any players in the country, but the ball still must go through Ellington.

Plus,with Sammy Watkins possibly facing some form of suspension, it's not too over the top to say that Ellington will be a crucial component to the offense.

Mike Bellamy is gone now too.

Bellamy was as quick a running back as any, and Ellington is now the sole experienced threat in the running game.

If Ellington was already vital to the success of Clemson, he is now the be all and end all because there are no backs with any experience in reserve.

Can you imagine if Ellington goes down with injury?

Disaster.

Giovani Bernard may be receiving the most hype of any ACC running back, but Ellington is as likely as any college running back to reach 1000 yards and ten touchdowns.

The one improvement I would like to see from Ellington is in the passing game.

He had no receiving touchdowns last year, and was not really a contributor in the passing attack.

With two premier outside, downfield threats in Hopkins and Watkins, Ellington should be able to find space on the underneath routes and screen passes.

Obviously, the play of the offensive line is vital.

Clemson has lost a few lineman, and Ellington and company are going to need good blocking up front if their dynamic offensive skill players are to realise their potential.

If Ellington can remain healthy, I'm sure he will show why he is among the top draft eligble running backs for 2013.