SEC media days aren't for players like him. The conference's head coaches are normally picky about who represents their program at the annual event, mostly bringing seniors and multiyear starters to face the media masses.
Of the 42 players scheduled to be at SEC media days this week, only five of them are quarterbacks. Four were the starters at their respective schools last season.
And then there's Johnson, who has only had two starts in his collegiate career. The first one came against FCS opponent Western Carolina in 2013, and he played the entire first half of Auburn's 2014 season opener against Arkansas for a suspended Nick Marshall.
But even with his limited amount of starting experience, Johnson entered the frenzy in Hoover on Monday afternoon as Auburn's only offensive representative.
"I brought three of our leaders with me today," head coach Gus Malzahn said. "Our quarterback, Jeremy Johnson, a guy that's been a backup for two years, handled himself extremely well. Now he's in the starting role. We feel very good about where he's at, and [he's] really a leader of our team."
"Leader." It's a label the 6'5" quarterback from Montgomery, Alabama, wears well.
His teammates have constantly raved about his leadership capabilities from the moment he stepped onto Auburn's campus. As a true freshman in 2013, he took charge of Malzahn's offense and playbook during a battle for the starting quarterback job.
Johnson lost out to Marshall, but the way he performed in that fall camp stuck out to Malzahn.
"His coaches and his teammates have a lot of confidence in him, and he's earned that," Malzahn said. "I really appreciate the way that he responded to not being the starter the last couple of years, when he could have started for the majority of the teams, and the way he's really responded is really something special."
Now it's time for Johnson to completely take over the offense as the No. 1 quarterback on the Plains.
The intense pressure and spotlight of being a starting quarterback in the SEC—especially one who plays for an offensive guru such as Malzahn—cranked up Monday for Johnson.
"I’ve never seen this many cameras in my life," Johnson said Monday, according to the Opelika-Auburn News' Tom Green. "But I’m really just cherishing this moment and opportunity right now."
Much like a certain former Auburn quarterback with a similar frame, Johnson flashed a big smile as he took question after question Monday.
Pressure? What pressure?
"I don’t feel pressure at all," Johnson said, per Green. "I’m here to play football. I don’t feel any pressure at all. All I can do is control what I can control, and that’s just get better each and every game."
And while he had that Cam Newton-like smile on his face, he made sure to brush off any on-field comparisons to the Auburn icon.
"Cam is Cam, and not me," Johnson said, according to Sports Illustrated's Andy Staples. "I don't compare myself to Cam that much."
Johnson also saw firsthand a popular criticism of his skill set that is beginning to creep into radio talk shows and preseason predictions for the Tigers.
A reporter squarely asked Johnson, who was a 4-star pro-style quarterback at Montgomery's Carver High School, if he could run—a key component of Malzahn's offense with Newton and Marshall. In Johnson's limited action at Auburn, he's only had 11 carries for 40 yards and one touchdown.
"A lot of people who haven’t seen me run, they might be a little surprised," Johnson said. “The people who did, won’t. Whatever the defense gives us, we’re going to take."
Malzahn and some other Tigers vouched for Johnson's running ability.
"Nick Marshall was one of the better zone-read quarterbacks in recent history," Malzahn said. "Jeremy has the ability [to run the zone]. ... He can make every throw that you ask him to do, but he's a better runner than people think.
"We didn't ask him to run the past couple of years, but he's a big, athletic guy. He probably runs a 4.6 [in the 40-yard dash]. So he will allow us to call all of our offense."
Johnson's place now as the leader of Malzahn's hurry-up, no-huddle offense has already garnered some hype that he could be the first Auburn player to win the Heisman Trophy since that quarterback he doesn't want to be compared to this year.
According to Odds Shark, Johnson currently has the seventh-best odds to win the famous award. He's ahead of quarterbacks such as Clemson's Deshaun Watson, Ohio State's Cardale Jones and Michigan State's Connor Cook.
But now, Johnson is only focused on winning one thing—football games.
"Really, I just don’t get too caught up into all of that right now," Johnson said, per Green. "All I can do is control what I can control each and every game and let all the individual accolades come with winning, because if you don’t win, you don’t get the individual accolades."
Hundreds of reporters and dozens of cameras won't compare to the pressure Johnson will face from SEC defenses week in and week out, but it was a start.
And the new face of Auburn football looks ready to handle everything that comes with the territory.
All quotes obtained from SEC Network's broadcast unless otherwise noted. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.
Justin Ferguson is an on-call college football writer at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
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