This would be an ideal scenario for Clemson Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik.
Going into the 2025 college football season, Clemson Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik was making preparations to potentially get selected No. 1 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan for Klubnik.
Klubnik took a massive step back during his final year at Clemson, throwing for 2,943 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. The campaign prior, he finished with 3,636 yards, 36 touchdowns and six picks while also rushing for 463 yards and seven scores, so to say that he was disappointing in 2025 would be putting it lightly.
Klubnik's draft stock has taken a complete nosedive as a result, and now, most mock drafts have him coming off the board sometime on Day 3.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic has Klubnik falling all the way to the seventh round, which is quite the gut punch. However, he does have the 22-year-old landing with the perfect team: the Los Angeles Rams.
Klubnik is predicting the Rams to select Klubnik at No. 232, which means that the Clemson product could ultimately succeed Matthew Stafford in Los Angeles if all goes well.
Cade Klubnik. Credit: Ken Ruinard - staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images.Of course, it wouldn't be that simple for Klubnik. The Rams aren't just going to hand Stafford's job to a seventh-round pick. But Klubnik would get to learn under Stafford while also learning from a tremendous head coach in Sean McVay.
On top of that, Los Angeles boasts a Super Bowl-caliber roster, so it's not like Klubnik would stepping in to a rather barren situation.
Klubnik is not going to start Year 1 no matter where he lands, so at this point, he should just be hoping for the best possible match.
It's hard to imagine a better one than the Rams.
Klubnik could actually end up being one of the bigger sleepers in this year's draft class. He isn't particularly elite in any one particular area, but he possesses solid arm talent to go along with decent athleticism.
Perhaps the biggest drawback to Klubnik is his processing speed, which is an area in which it is always difficult improve.
But if he ends up going to Los Angeles, Stafford and McVay can help Klubnik with this weak spots.
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