The senior quarterback has had an up-and-down career throughout his time in Clemson, and while scouts were waiting for him to take the next step, it has ultimately backfired. Now his draft stock has plummeted after a rough season.
Prior to the 2025 college football season, it’s only natural for fans, pundits, and NFL scouts to think about what’s to come in the upcoming NFL Draft.
One of the names that consistently stood atop mock drafts was Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik.
But as the season wore on, Clemson had a massively disappointing season, starting off the season 1-3, including losses to LSU, Syracuse and Georgia Tech, while barely getting by Troy in Week 2.
Following that start, the Tigers came away with wins against North Carolina and Boston College. But afterwards, they fell at the hands of SMU and Duke.
In turn, it destroyed Klubnik’s draft status.
On August 29, FOX Sports posted a mock draft that suggested that the Cleveland Browns would take Klubnik with the second overall pick.
Their research team explained:
“Klubnik is a dual-threat quarterback who was one of four FBS players to account for 4,000-plus yards of total offense and 40-plus TDs last season, joining Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders and Will Howard. He was also the only player in FBS to throw for 35 TDs with six or fewer interceptions, not to mention his 463 yards and seven TDs on the ground.”
He certainly fits the bill for NFL teams around the league to seem mildly intrigued. But for as long as he’s been in college football, everyone was just waiting for the Austin, TX native to take the proverbial “next step” in becoming a prime time quarterback.
But that next step was never taken. He’s always been a good quarterback, never great. And if you’re asking him to be elite, you may be asking too much.
ESPN did a piece on draft analysts answering any and all questions that teams may be having leading up to April.
Matt Miller had a few things to say about Klubnik:
“Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik had summer hype as a first-rounder, but NFL scouts are backpedaling faster than the cornerbacks he faces. One AFC East scout said: ‘I think he's a Day 3 guy, and you saw why today [after the win against Furman]. When his weapons were missing [including Antonio Williams], he looked average. OK arm, OK processing speed. Way too overhyped.’”
There have been plenty of quality NFL starters coming out of the later rounds of the NFL Draft like Tom Brady, Brock Purdy, Matt Hasselbeck, and Rich Gannon, but the likelihood decreases as the draft progresses.
With the college football season officially done, and as we head into bowl season, Klubnik certainly has some work to do to boost his draft stock once again.