Entering the 2025 season, the expectations were high for former Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik. A season consisting of struggles and injuries caused his draft stock to plummet from round one to round four, where he was drafted by the Jets.
Klubnik now enters with a new slate for a team that traded up to get him.
“In my mind, I’m a winner,” Klubnik told reporters on Saturday, via Rich Cimini of ESPN. “I don’t mean that in a boastful way. I think that’s the mentality you have to have as a quarterback, and I think that my résumé has kind of showed that as well.”
The winning didn’t happen in 2025. Clemson slumped to a 3-5 start before finishing 7-6.
“[Clemson] is a tough place to be,” Klubnik said. “It’s a really tough place to be. My senior year, with 19 starters coming back and huge aspirations and dreams that we had as a team, we didn’t really fulfill those.”
Klubnik said he fought through “two major injuries” — an ankle and a wrist. The ankle injury had him “pretty much limping into every game” and taking the elevator at the team facility instead of the stairs.
“For me, I think that I really learned how to truly face adversity and just attack it,” Klubnik said.
While his playing ability in the NFL remains to be determined (as it does for all rookies), Klubnik displayed leadership at the rookie minicamp. He organized the other players for a walk-through at the hotel on Thursday and Friday night.
“There’s not really anything else to do but study ball, so let’s get together, walk through a few routes,” Klubnik said.
For now, he’ll be walking his way through the pro game, in the hopes of eventually running the Jets’ offense. Current starter Geno Smith is likely a short-term option. If Klubnik shows the Jets enough during the offseason program, training camp, and the preseason, he could earn a chance to become the starter, at some point.
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