Auburn to utilize Kerryon Johnson in Wildcat formation this year.

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Kerryon Johnson is not moving.

Auburn's backfield is already stacked with potential starters and role players, but the freshman running back is expected to contribute in 2015.

How? Why?

A special role may be carved out for the former Madison Academy star.

"He's going to play running back, but he's very good at the Wildcat," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said last week.

Alabama's Mr. Football in 2015 ran for 1,659 yards and 25 touchdowns last season and set the state championship game record with six touchdowns for Madison Academy. Auburn's coaches watched the 6-foot-1, 205-pound star from afar and then up close inside Jordan-Hare Stadium during his record-breaking performance in the Class 3A state title game.

"The last guy I saw with his skill-set that can do what he can do is Darren McFadden," Malzahn said. "So he's got the ability to run the read-zone back there. You can put out -- split-out -- and he can jump over just about anybody. He's got a unique skill-set."

McFadden finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting twice, including his sophomore season under Malzahn at Arkansas. It was there that McFadden exploded on the scene with Malzahn's Wildcat formations. The Razorbacks won 10 straight games, and McFadden blossomed into a national star as he scored on the ground and through the air in 2006.

Johnson, the No. 1 player on AL.com's A-List, could move to safety in the future if running back does not work out. He played the position at the Under Armour All-America Game in January, but he'll get his first shot at running back and in the slot at receiver on jet sweeps at Auburn. Malzahn has called him an "elite" player.

"It's not going to be anything new coming into college," Johnson told AL.com in September. "I'm going to know how to play the position and going to have experience there that a lot of other pure running backs don't get. I feel like that gives me a chance to get more playing time early, because of the different things I can do."

The Tigers plan to utilize the Wildcat formation more often than recent seasons. The departure of quarterback Nick Marshall leaves Auburn without a speed threat at the position, where Jeremy Johnson will take over as a pocket passer.

"We're really expecting him to have a chance to play right off the bat and really, not just play," Malzahn said. "He has a chance to really help."

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