Auburn's 2014 depth chart was released leading up to the SEC season-opener against the Arkansas Razorbacks Saturday.
Sophomore Jeremy Johnson was officially announced starting quarterback for the game by head coach Gus Malzahn, while Senior Nick Marshall was still listed as starter on the depth chart.
"Jeremy Johnson will start," Malzahn said. "Nick Marshall will play. I'm not exactly ready to say when and all that, but he definitely will play."
Malzahn would not give any insight into what would effect the rotation or playing time at the quarterback position Saturday.
"We have a plan," Malzahn said. "I'm not going to sit here and tell everybody exactly what our plan is, but we have a plan and we feel very good about it,"
Malzahn did say that he and offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee have communicated with the two quarterbacks and have had a plan for a while. They also feel good about starting Johnson against the Razorbacks.
"We have a very good idea of what we're going to get with Jeremy," Malzahn said. "He's been in game situations. He's a year older. He's went through spring. He's worked with the 1's and we have a plan."
Junior Josh Holsey will start at corner in the place of senior Jonathan Mincy, and Mincy will play in Saturday's game, Malzahn said.
Star safety Robenson Therezie was not listed in the depth chart and his status moving forward is not clear.
Junior Justin Garrett will start at the Star position, and freshman Nick Ruffin is listed as the backup.
As expected, seniors Cameron Artis-Payne and Corey Grant are 1 and 1A at the runningback position going into game one.
"All those guys are very confident guys," senior left tackle Shon Coleman said. "Any guy that we got back there in the backfield, we have confidence in them...and we know they can go out there and perform well."
Malzahn doesn't have a set No. 3 or No. 4 runningback behind the two seniors, but said freshman Roc Thomas has a chance to be in the game, as well as redshirt freshman Peyton Barber.
"(Thomas is) really good," Artis-Payne said. "Explosive. Quick. He has good speed. He's everything he is advertised to be. He'll be a real good player."
Freshman Daniel Carlson will handle punts and kicks this season.
"What we really tried to stress is let's be better around (Carlson), and so we have a lot more experience around him on our punt team and our kickoff team," Malzahn said.
The punt return job was won by senior Quan Bray, who averaged 5.1 yards per return last season. Sophomore Marcus Davis is listed as the backup. Junior Ricardo Louis and Grant will handle kick returns, but Thomas could see time this season as well.
"We got four guys that can run," Malzahn said. "All four can take it to the house. I think that's critical. You'll see all four back there at times."
Senior Gabe Wright moved from tackle to end in the spring, and will start ahead of senior LaDarius Owens on the right side.
There are three newcomers on offense that were listed on the depth chart, and four on defense.
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