Personally, I'm very interested to see what the New York Jets decide to do with Cade Klubnik and his development. I think there was a real effort to bring in a quarterback of his nature over the past few months, and as a result, the Jets did exactly what they had to do in the NFL Draft.
I'm not here to say that Klubnik is going to be a star for this organization or be anything close to that in the future, but there's definitely stuff to like about him.
Remember now, this was one of the top-rated recruits in the country before going to Clemson. That might not mean everything, and I totally understand that, but the Jets have some high hopes for him, and I actually believe this is the right idea from the organization for once.
“The Jets are, purposefully, putting a lot on Klubnik’s plate right now. It’s the perfect time to do it, before the veterans join the fray. The only other quarterback at rookie camp is Tulane’s Jake Retzlaff, a tryout player. Klubnik got the majority of the reps in the 11-on-11 drills reporters were present for at the start of practice. He seemed to be empowered to make changes at the line of scrimmage based on what he was seeing, and he spoke with Reich after every play.
“These drills are very low-effort this time of year, with defensive players jogging and often not interfering with the play, even if the ball flies right in front of them,” Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic wrote.
Head coach Aaron Glenn shared a similar message, adding that he plans to push him in this offense throughout training camp and the offseason, hoping he learns it from some of the brightest minds in the world now that he's in the NFL.
“He’s a really smart man,” Glenn said. “I don’t think he’s swimming as much as you think he is, and that’s a lot because of how much the coaches are teaching him. We’re going to push 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. He’s a guy we targeted, we’re happy that we got him and look forward to seeing him in training camp.”
There's a lot that has to happen over the next few years for Klubnik to be a starting-caliber quarterback in the NFL, but I think he has all the tools to do it.