He never used the word leader(Unless he did, if so correct me), that’s the way fans have interpreted his praise of Karaban, but it doesn’t mean Johnson wasn’t the leader to start all along. Hurley never even used such lofty praise like “wall potential” in describing AK either.
I also don’t think SJ could’ve won the job in 2 weeks, considering they’ve been evaluating each player for a year+ now. Would Dan really make a switch this late in the offseason after a couple solid scrimmage performances? Especially with AK being fully healthy by Stonehill?