**Leading up to the start of fall camp, TrojanSports.com will be counting down the 22-ish most important Trojans for 2022.**

Sixth-year redshirt senior defensive tackle Brandon Pili was the hardest player to slot on this list.

If he was available last season, he might have been a top 10 selection here, as USC's dearth of options at nose tackle was among the most glaring obstacles for the Trojans defense. They had nobody quite like the 6-foot-3, 345-pounder to clog up the middle.

Instead, Pili was sidelined with a torn Achilles tendon, which is why he's back for a sixth year in 2022.

But he returns to a new staff and a new scheme. Coordinator Alex Grinch's particular brand of defense has been given the moniker of "Speed D" going back to his time at Washington State -- the emphasis of course being on putting speed across the field, even if that means being undersized at certain positions.

Well, Pili is anything but undersized (and coming off a torn ACL), but from what I've heard, that doesn't necessarily make him miscast for this defense.