Clemson Football: 5 Players Who Stepped Up This Year, 5 Who Will Need To Step Up

Clemson's season to date has been one of surprises, disappointment and job security.

There are several players this year that stepped up in a big way, contributing to Clemson's success.

Next year, however, Clemson won't be underestimated and will need new players to step up to those heightened expectations.

Here are five players who were key cogs in this year's machine and five players Clemson will need to perpetuate this momentum.

Stepped Up: Tajh Boyd

We'll get the obvious out of the way.

A few years ago, Clemson endured the tenure of a quarterback named Cullen Harper.  Harper was a tough junior who played well and gave Clemson fans hope for his senior year.

Then he got hit a few times.

He started looking over his shoulder, throwing the ball away too fast and sliding for a first down. 

If you don't want to get hit...play tennis.

Two years ago, Kyle Parker beat out the vaunted Willie Korn for the starting QB spot and subsequently led Clemson to the ACC Championship Game in Tampa. Clemson came into the next year with heightened expectations.

Then, Parker got hit a few times.

He started looking over his shoulder, throwing the ball away too fast and sliding for a first down.

If you want to know how I feel about that, see the previously mentioned tennis reference.

After Parker tiptoed around for a year, Dabo finally got fed up in the bowl game against South Florida and put some No. 10 in to finish out the season. This new guy showed flashes and darn near led a comeback.

Coming off a 6-7 season and breaking in a new QB, Clemson fans had no expectations.  Then, Boyd started ripping apart some pretty good defenses, and the Clemson faithful began to perk up.

When Boyd went down against Boston College, a collective sigh of, "here we go again" went out from Death Valley. This QB is different, though. He took his licks and came back with energy.

Well done, Tajh. You've gained our respect. Now next year, we expect you to be perfect.

Stepped Up: Jaron Brown

Jaron Brown is the most under-the-radar wide receiver on the Clemson squad.

This is understandable considering the talent that surrounds him, but Jaron Brown has been phenomenally clutch all year. His highlights have been hidden by the fireworks called Sammy Watkins and Dwayne Allen.

His touchdown catch against Maryland turned the game around, and his TD against Wake Forest is likely the reason Clemson played for the ACC championship.

There were times when opponents would throw all 11 defenders on Watkins and Allen and Jaron Brown would relieve some of the pressure by racking up a bunch of yards fast.

He'll be back next year and should continue to be a key part of a scary wide receiving corps.

Stepped Up: Andre Branch

The most salient examples of Andre Branch stepping up will be forever associated with the domination of Virginia Tech...twice.

During the first game in Blacksburg, Virgina Tech QB Logan Thomas became very familiar with Branch, as he got sacked by him over and over.

Nothing changed in the rematch.

Branch tore through the VT offensive line with ease and was a big part of the reason why Clemson will play in the Orange Bowl.

On a defense that was suspect most of the year, Branch was a fairly consistent component that will be missed next year.

Stepped Up: Deandre Hopkins

Clemson fans are starting to itch, wondering why I haven't included Sammy Watkins yet.

Its mostly because hes been talked about all year, and rightly so.

Its time to give some of these other guys some credit.

Before there was Sammy, there was Nuke. Last year, he was the only guy on the team who could catch the ball. Then, he went to play for the basketball team, which demonstrates the kind of athleticism he possesses.

This year, he was overshadowed a bit but still as clutch as ever, making circus catches and juking defenders out of their cleats.

And sometimes out of his own cleats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAwKON_t-CA

Stepped Up: Stephone Anthony

Stephone Anthony was one of Clemson's recruiting gems last year, and this year he showed why.

He won himself a ton of playing time by showing that freshmen can rock a quarterback's world.

No play, though, was bigger than when he put his helmet into the ball being held by Logan Thomas who was being tackled by Andre Branch. The impact caused the ball to come loose and switched the momentum to Clemson, who, as we know, proceeded to stomp Virginia Tech.

Clemson only has two senior linebackers on the roster, and I've never heard of either one of them, which meant that somebody was going to have to shore up the LB corps. The options were many, as Dabo reeled in some incredible linebackers in Tony Steward and Lateek Townsend, not to mention underrated B.J Goodson, and added them to the likes of Justin Parker, who was recruited by everybody in the country.

Stephone Anthony just rose to the top.

I'll make a prediction now. When Tony Steward gets back from his knee injury, the linebackers for Clemson are going to be terrifying.

Needs To Step Up: Tajh Boyd

I am fully aware that this is a duplicate.

How can a player be on the "stepped up" list and the "needs to step up" list, you ask?

There were few players in the country who were as feast-or-famine this year as Boyd was.

He was either rolling out of the pocket and throwing a spectacular strike to Dwayne Allen or Sammy Watkins, or he was doing something stupid like mistaking NC State linebackers for Clemson receivers.

I never really felt like Tajh Boyd put together that perfect game he was talking about all year.

Sure, he had some good games, but the best is yet to come. Once Tajh Boyd gets brains to go along with his athletic ability, he is going to be on every NFL radar.

Dabo has scooped a boy named Chad Kelly for next year's recruiting class. Kelly is a perfect fit for Morris' offense and is a record breaker himself.  It should cause Boyd to decide to get better, and maybe then we'll see that perfect game.

Needs To Step Up: Brandon Ford

I am operating under the assumption that Dwayne Allen is going to the NFL.

That's OK, because Clemson has another guy that looks just like him right behind. Ford is a junior, but has played his entire career behind Michael Palmer and Dwayne Allen.

Ford showed what he is capable of in the Wake Forest game when he caught what seemed like the only completion of the day in spectacular fashion, igniting a scoring drive and some momentum for Boyd.

He has had some integral catches this year and will be called upon next year to step into some big shoes.

He should split time with Eric MacLain, who was highly recruited himself.

Between the two, the Clemson TE situation next year should be fine.

Needs To Step Up: Kevin Steele

OK, so this is not a player.

But Kevin Steele's defense this year was mediocre at best.

I won't be too hard on him because it was a young defense, but next year, he won't have the marginal leniency the rabid Tiger fanbase gave him this year.

His secondary had too much talent to be getting burned on the long ball. That's a scheme, not a lack of ability.

His linebackers were too fast to be getting burned by mobile quarterbacks. By the time Clemson got to the South Carolina game, they had seen several different running QBs.  Why couldn't they figure something out?

His defensive line was too strong to be giving quarterbacks the amount of time they had to throw the ball.

Next year, Steele will have plenty of talent to help him out. If he can get his schemes right, then he can have the stifling defense Clemson will need to win championships.

Needs To Step Up: The Offensive Line

With Dalton Freeman putting his papers in for the NFL draft, Clemson might lose the anchor of their offensive line.

Not that the offensive line was Clemson's strongest point anyway.

An offensive line is underappreciated. They don't get to throw, catch or run for touchdowns. They don't get to sack anybody or blow up a running back in the backfield. When the defense sacks their QB, the fans ask why he wasn't protected, and when the running game stagnates, the fans wonder why they can't open holes.

And after all that, nobody knows your name.

That being said, opposing defenses climbed all over Tajh Boyd this year.  Mason Cloy, David Smith, Antoine McClain and Phillip Price are all seniors, Landon Walker is a grad student and Dalton Freeman is testing the waters of the NFL.

That's a lot of big guys to lose.

Fortunately, Clemson has a bunch of new talent coming in. In addition to the remaining 11 offensive linemen on the roster, Clemson will add two players from the ESPN150 in Jay Guillermo and Patrick Destefano.

Who will be the guys that fill the holes that these departures will leave?

Needs To Step Up: Mike Bellamy

The Clemson running game was serviceable this year.

Andre Ellington hasn't been the same since his toe injury, but showed flashes of what he is capable of later in the year.

While he was out for a spell, Mike Bellamy and DJ Howard filled in. They both fumbled the ball at critical times, which was instrumental in Dabo's decision to limit their playing time.

DJ Howard is going to be an integral part of the running game, probably as a dependable backup.

What Clemson really needs, though, is an explosive back to take some pressure off the passing game.

Mike Bellamy was supposed to be that guy, but off-field issues have stunted his progress.

There's no question that Bellamy has the capability of being one of the best running backs the Tigers have ever had. The question is if he will get a chance to prove it.

Furthermore, if he gets the chance, what will he do with it?