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Auburn Tigers building offense around QB Jeremy Johnson

By Patrick Schmidt

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Jeremy Johnson finally gets his chance to be the starting quarterback at Auburn with Nick Marshall heading to the NFL, but how much will the offense change with him behind center?

For two years, Jeremy Johnson sat behind Nick Marshall at Auburn and watched him lead the Tigers to the SEC title in 2013 and to the BCS National Championship Game in his first season on campus. Now Johnson gets his chance to prove that the flashes of brilliance he showed his first two years on The Plains.

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The 6-5, 230-pound Johnson received one start in each of his first two seasons, including in 2014 when Marshall served a first-half suspension and threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns on 12-of-16 passing. He showed an instant chemistry with receiver D’haquille Williams who bypassed the NFL Draft to return for a second season at Auburn.

Johnson only attempted 21 more passes the rest of the season with Marshall returning to the lineup where he went 7-5 in his starts and operated the zone-read with great skill. He was one of the best running quarterbacks in the SEC. Marshall was a perfect in the offense Gus Malzahn and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee ran, but Johnson is a different style of quarterback, so how will he fit?

“We’ll build around our starting quarterback, and Jeremy is the guy that is going to take the first snap” in practice, Malzahn said, via espn.com. “He’s got the most experience. Jeremy is a good runner in his own right. He’s not exactly like Nick, but he’s a very good runner. He throws the ball extremely well. But all of our quarterbacks are going to have a run element.”

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    • Johnson is the man to beat for the job with Sean White, Tyler Queen and junior college transfer, Jason Smith vying for the backup job and it sounds like Malzahn is confident in tailoring his offense around the skill-set of Johnson.

    He’s shown a strong and accurate arm in flashes and the poise necessary to stand tall in the pocket and lead the offense to go with his ideal size, so while he won’t be running wild like Marshall did the last two years, that could be better and bring a well-balanced offensive identity.

    Auburn has been one of the more prolific rushing offenses the last two seasons, but with Marshall’s arm complementing running backs Roc Thomas and Jovon Robinson, the Tigers passing attack could be the best we’ve seen in a few years.

    The whispers were Johnson was the best quarterback on campus despite the presence of Marshall and now he get the chance to turn those whispers into screams, preferably from the Tiger faithful in Jordan-Hare Stadium after a long touchdown pass.

    Next: SEC Position Battles To Watch in Spring Practice

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