Squats have always been one of my favorite, if not my favorite, lifts. Others include deadlifts, power cleans, and box jumps. Bench is one if my least favorite lifts, probably bc I'm so weak at it and my injury keeps me from progressing as fast as I could and I can't do power cleans anymore for the same reason plus a lack of mobility to do it.
Lyle McDonaldhas an interesting article on how leg presses can be substituted for squats if size is your only concern. And while I can agree to some extent I still think you would be selling yourself short not squatting. Strength can and will eventually drive size gains since the more you can squat for a 1RM the more weight you can do for 6,8,10,12, etc reps to help build more mass. You also get the added benefit of squats being a functional lift in many aspects whereas leg presses or leg extensions etc are not. Anecdotally I used to when I was younger load the leg oress with over 1000lbs in my football days. Sure it got me bigger legs to some degree but it never translated into increased performance on the field or in life in general. Now I don't think I could even leg press 700lbs as I haven't done them in so long but my squat has gone up and so has my vertical leap, my explosiveness and acceleration, power, etc. One other things squats teach you is discipline. I don't know about anybody else but when I was on the leg press with 1000lbs I thought nothing of it. It was difficult but that's it. Heavy squats can intimidate you, make you fear the barbell, make you think twice about getting under the barbell, etc. When you do it anyway it toughens you up both physically and mentally. It can cause pain but you learn to embrace that pain. That desire to squat whatever is on the bar then gets translated to all your other lifts as well. It makes you a more proficient lifter from a mental perspective which trickles down into a physical perspective.
The following is a quote from a good friend from another board and a very wise and strong powerlifter that I agree with wholeheartedly:
