{"id":109407,"date":"2025-06-06T20:15:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T20:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/109407\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T20:15:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T20:15:08","slug":"what-espn-had-to-say-about-cade-klubnik-as-a-2026-nfl-draft-prospect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/109407\/","title":{"rendered":"What ESPN had to say about Cade Klubnik as a 2026 NFL draft prospect"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cade Klubnik <\/a>has plenty working in his favor heading into the 2025 season\u2014and now, he\u2019ll have the full attention of NFL scouts watching to see what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n

After an up-and-down sophomore year, Klubnik took a major step forward in 2024 for Clemson<\/a>. He finished the season with 3,639 passing yards, 36 touchdowns and just six interceptions, putting together one of the best single-season performances by a Clemson<\/a> quarterback in recent memory. According to ESPN\u2019s <\/a>Jordan Reid, \u201cKlubnik entered 2024 with question marks after a rough sophomore season but emerged as a star.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reid praised Klubnik\u2019s polish and command in the pocket, writing that \u201che\u2019s able to repeat his mechanics and keep his eyes, feet and throwing motion in sync while going through his progressions.\u201d The Clemson quarterback delivered on the biggest stage too, saving his best performance for the first round of the College Football Playoff, where he threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns against Texas.<\/p>\n

That showing, along with a strong supporting cast\u2014Clemson returns its top three receivers in 2025\u2014led Reid to project Klubnik as the No. 1 overall pick in his Way Too Early 2026 mock draft. \u201cHe should be set up for success in 2025,\u201d Reid said.<\/p>\n

But NFL scouts aren\u2019t sold just yet. While Klubnik\u2019s accuracy, footwork, and decision-making have drawn praise, questions remain about his physical ceiling. \u201cScouts around the league I\u2019ve talked to have raised concerns about Klubnik\u2019s arm strength and whether he can build on his 2024 success,\u201d Reid noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuestions about his arm surface when he\u2019s forced to test tight windows in underneath coverage and with his inconsistent trajectory on deep passes,\u201d Reid added. Klubnik averaged just 8.56 air yards per passing attempt last season, which ranked 58th in the FBS. \u201cHe must be more assertive and willing to challenge coverage in intermediate and deep areas,\u201d Reid said.<\/p>\n

Klubnik\u2019s development in 2025 will go a long way in determining whether he truly has the tools to become a top NFL quarterback\u2014or if he still has something to prove at the next level.<\/p>\n

Contact us\u00a0@Clemson_Wire<\/a>\u00a0on X, and like our page on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for ongoing coverage of\u00a0Clemson Tigers<\/a>\u00a0news and notes, plus opinions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cade Klubnik has plenty working in his favor heading into the 2025 season\u2014and now, he\u2019ll have the full…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[247,265,1681,8168,318,332,339,12,388,7,379,248,267,88,6,245,537,319,530,9,266,790],"class_list":{"0":"post-109407","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-american","9":"tag-american-football","10":"tag-clemson","11":"tag-clemson-tigers-football","12":"tag-college","13":"tag-college-football-playoff","14":"tag-college-sports","15":"tag-espn","16":"tag-espn-inc","17":"tag-football","18":"tag-inc","19":"tag-national","20":"tag-national-sports","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-nfl","23":"tag-overall","24":"tag-overall-positive","25":"tag-playoff","26":"tag-positive","27":"tag-sports","28":"tag-sports-news","29":"tag-tigers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114638259820682310","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}