Forget the QB Battle, Auburn QB Jeremy Johnson Will Be a Star

While quarterback battles rage in Tuscaloosa, Athens and Oxford, another—perhaps under-the-radar one—could be brewing at Auburn.

According to the Auburn coaching staff, there's a heated quarterback battle going down on the Plains that includes junior Jeremy Johnson, redshirt freshman Sean White and true freshman Tyler Queen.

The three contenders are working well so far this spring in head coach Gus Malzahn's hurry-up, no-huddle offense. Malzahn said, according to Charles Goldberg of AuburnTigers.com:

"

I really think they're doing a good job. In spring, especially when you're installing, you're rotating a whole bunch of receivers. We're a timing offense so it takes a little bit to make sure everybody is in the right spot, coming out of their breaks at the right depth.

"

In fact, according to James Crepea of the Montgomery Advertiser, White has split some first-team reps with Johnson and is in the mix to win the starting job.

"He's in a good position; he's battling Jeremy hard right now," said Malzahn.

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Don't be fooled by semantics. It's Johnson's job to lose, and he's not going to lose it.

The 6'5", 230-pounder from Montgomery, Alabama, has plenty of experience running Auburn's offense, starting twice in place of former dual-threat signal-caller Nick Marshall. In the season opener last season, Johnson sliced and diced the Arkansas defense for 243 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, before giving way to Marshall, who was suspended for the first 30 minutes.

As Dan Wolken of USA Today notes, Johnson might actually be an upgrade from Marshall—a quarterback who won an SEC title and came within a hair of leading the Tigers to a national title.

Sound crazy? It's not.

Nothing against White. After all, he's deathly accurate and, while not mobile like Marshall, did win MVP of the Elite 11 quarterback camp in 2013, according to AL.com. That doesn't happen by accident.

But does Malzahn really want to go into a season in which he has legitimate national title hopes and opens with a tough Louisville defense with a quarterback who has never taken a snap in college football?

Nope. 

Johnson was so impressive as a true freshman that he forced Malzahn to get him in during Auburn's run to the 2013 SEC title and 2014 BCS National Championship Game. That speaks volumes. 

"This is his third go-around, his third year with us, so the expectations for him are extremely high," Malzahn said last month, according to Greg Ostendorf of ESPN.com.

Year	Comp./Att.	Comp. %	Yds.	TDs	INTs	Rush Yds.	Rush TDs
2013	29-for-41	70.7	422	6	2	47	0
2014	28-for-37	75.7	436	3	0	-7	1
Career	57-for-78	73.1	858	9	2	40	1

This "quarterback battle" is very similar to the one that took place in 2010—with Malzahn as the offensive coordinator—on the Plains. That year, Barrett Trotter, Neil Caudle and Clint Moseley were in a heated battle with some upstart junior college transfer named Cam Newton. The battle was so close that the foursome entered the spring game—which was the next-to-last practice session of 2010—with no clear starter out front, according to AL.com.

Just a week after spring practice wrapped up, Newton was named the starting quarterback. Fourteen wins, an SEC title, a national title and Heisman Trophy later, he solidified himself as a legend.

Will Johnson follow in his footsteps? That's a tall order, but he certainly has the talent to lead Auburn to the promised land.

The world got a taste of what Johnson can do in last season's opener versus Arkansas. He has a big arm, is precise on the timing routes and has already gone through the latter part of fall camp knowing that he's preparing to be the starting quarterback for a season opener. The return of stud wide receiver D'haquille "Duke" Williams, in addition to veteran wideouts like Ricardo Louis, Melvin Ray and Marcus Davis, should allow Johnson to open the 2015 season with his foot on the gas.

What's more, Johnson does possess enough of the threat on the ground to give opposing defensive coordinators fits. In the high school highlights below against—coincidentally—Auburn High School, then-Carver High School standout Johnson (wearing white) sliced and diced the Auburn defense through the air and on the ground.

Is he a Marshall clone? No. He's not nearly as much of a threat off the edge and isn't going to juke defenders out of their shoes. He will run over them, though, and does have breakaway speed once he gets going.

That means Malzahn—who was the first coordinator in FBS history to produce a 5,000-yard passer, 1,000-yard rusher and three 1,000-yard receivers in the same season, at Tulsa in 2007—can tweak the offense to look a little more like the one with Newton—with the quarterback providing more of the inside running threat.

Talent? Check.

Opportunity? Check.

Scheme? Check.

Look out for Johnson. While he might not officially be the starter, that's merely a tactic to keep him motivated prior to what should be a stellar season for the junior signal-caller.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports' composite rankings. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.