Entering the 2025 college football season, many draft pundits predicted Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik would be a first-round pick in 2026.
Instead, Klubnik ended up being a fourth-round pick by the Jets, and even that felt high according to some of the draft experts who had him ranked as the eighth or ninth best quarterback in this NFL Draft.
Klubnik’s draft stock plummeted after a dismal senior season for the Tigers. His touchdown passes fell from 36 in 2024 to just 16 last year. The team, which was picked by some to win the national championship, lost three of its first four games and five of its first eight.
Klubnik battled an ankle injury so bad that he could not walk up stairs, instead using the elevator in the team facility to go to meetings.
Yet, Klubnik says he is not bitter about how the last year went. He’s actually thankful.
“For me, I think I really learned how to truly face adversity and just attack it,” Klubnik said. “I think because of that I’m really thankful. If I would have gone and had the exact year that I dreamed [of] and worked for I don’t think I’d be as prepared as I am now because I learned really how to face that adversity and get up every single day even though that end goal that I was chasing isn’t really there anymore. It’s tough. It was really hard to go through, but I’m really thankful that it happened.”
Klubnik has been back on the field over the past two days in his new Jets uniform. He took part in the team’s rookie minicamp on Friday and Saturday, wearing No. 10. He had an impressive day on Saturday both throwing the ball and speaking to the media afterward.
His passes were precise and his words were thoughtful. Klubnik oozes leadership and poise and you can see why the Jets fell in love with him during the predraft process.
The team traded up to get him in the fourth round, despite the predraft belief he would be taken much later.
“He’s a really smart man,” Jets coach Aaron Glenn said. “We’re going to push the envelope with that player and see exactly where he’s at and how he’s going to be able to operate with our offense. Obviously, you’re going to see him a lot in the preseason and things like that. Again, he was a guy we targeted, we’re happy that we got him, and look forward to seeing him come training camp.”
Klubnik is familiar with pressure and expectations. He was a star at Westlake High School in Texas, breaking Drew Brees’ school records. He became the No. 1 recruit in the country and went to Clemson with everyone expecting him to be the next great Tigers quarterback. He had some great moments at Clemson and took them to the College Football Playoffs as a junior but it felt like he never lived up to the lofty billing he had coming out of high school.
Last year things cratered, but Klubnik learned resilience as the team ended up winning four straight to earn a Pinstripe Bowl trip.
“I think that in my mind, I’m a winner,” Klubnik said. “I don’t mean that in a boastful way. I think that that’s the mentality that you have to have as a quarterback. I think that my résumé has kind of showed that as well. But this past year, we didn’t win as much. We started the year 3-5 at Clemson. It’s a tough place to be. It’s a really tough place to be. With my senior year and 19 starters coming back and huge aspirations and dreams that we had as a team and we didn’t really fulfill those.
“I battled two major injuries throughout the year, sitting there at 3-5 and all of our dreams and goals out the window and kind of had to look in the mirror and look at my teammate and say this is bigger than us. This is going to be special. Then to be able to turn that thing around and going to win four straight at the end of the year.”
