When was the last time when Clemson Tigers won the National Championship title? Well, it has been 7 years since they brought the Natty home in 2018. However, walking into the 2025 season, the fire is burning that they might repeat their 2018 stint. The hero to count on for a success story? Ofcourse, their quarterback, Cade Klubnik. “Third year here as the same signal-caller, calling the same plays here. He gonna line up the scoreboard.” That’s what former Cleveland Browns star Gerald V Dixon said about Dabo Swinney’s quarterback. But as Klubnik enjoys his cloud nine moment, a college football analyst handed out a reality check. Just to shift our focus a bit, Swinney is armed up with Clemson’s power duo.
When Klubnik took the gridiron against Georgia back on August 31, 2024, the Clemson fans muts have gone like ‘Oh no!’ He managed to rack up only 15 of 31 passes for 255 yards. And touchdowns? ZERO. His shaky feat flashed a dark future in front of their eyes. But the quarterback pulled off an UNO reverse. Klubnik went on to rank third nationally in passing touchdowns (36) and threw for 3,639 yards. Unfortunately, he failed to leave a mark during the Tigers’ first spring scrimmage in 2025. Now marks a crucial time for Swinney’s squad. Will they be able to end the 7-year-long drought? For that, the quintessential oomph factor is missing in Klubnik.
On April 9, on the On3 podcast, analysts Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman drew a bleak picture for Swinney’s quarterback. Both of them came with their list of ‘Top 10 QBs in college football.’ While Wasserman placed Klubnik at No.5, for Staples, he is a No.3. Wasserman then shared his take. “I think that Cade Klubnick is a very, very good quarterback. I am just not 100% of the way there of he’s the face of our sport.” Last year in the Pro Day, we did not see Swinney’s QB hitting the gridiron. So, this year, the expectations were naturally high. But poor Klubnik! He had two miscues. The quarterback underthrew Jake Briningstool while scrambling to the right on a pass. On another occasion, he overthrew his former tight end on a 40-yard pass to the left end zone.
Drawing from the recent misses, Wasserman shared, “I don’t know; there’s just something; maybe it’s just because he wasn’t excellent or star like, right out of the gate, and maybe I’m just having a hard time catching up… I’m high on him. I don’t know if I am on board with face melting off while watching him yet.” Well, Klubnik can’t be blamed totally. After all, the ceiling for the quarterbacks is way too high in Swinney’s program. Thanks to their former quarterback star Deshaun Watson, who led the team to a national championship title in 2016. And how could we miss Trevor Lawrence? One of the the highest-touted college football prospects back in his time, won the the 2019 National Championship Game as a freshman. Now, does that hint at the fact that something big awaits for Swinney’s quarterback?
Maybe. As Staples shared, “Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence were so good right off the rib that I think we got in our heads that a Clemson quarterback can’t be great unless he comes in as a freshman and just dominates.” As of now, Klubnik is enjoying his own sweet time, while Swinney is brimming high with confidence for his WR duo.
Will Klubnik be the 2025 star with the arsenal in place?
In the 2025 off-season, Klubnik had switched the gridiron with a golf course (virtual) for once. And definitely, he did not disappoint. He played a virtual golf game, hitting drives over 300 yards. And it did reach the right person. Klubnik managed to earn some gold stars from Masters legend Trevor Immelman. “Oh man! This swing is pure right there. Oh wow, he’s crushed that. This is a good move here from QB1. This is elite level stuff, let me tell you.” But turns out that after his Pro-Day feat, he did not quite impress Swinney with his gridiron skills that earned him the “avergae” tag from the HC.
Cut two, when it comes to Clemson’s talented freshman receiver duo of Bryant Wesco and T.J. Moore, Swinney is riding high on enthusiasm. Now, this is not something new. Last year, when ESPN analyst Greg McElroy got the word from him early in the season, he talked highly of the duo. Recently, the analyst recalled the conversation in his recent podcast. “If Dabo Swinney had seen special things from them and we’ve seen enough special things from them in games, imagine what they’re going to do this year with another year in the offense and another year developing that chemistry with Cade Klubnik. I think Clemson’s receiver corps, they’re in terrific shape.”
Going by Greg McElroy’s analysis, T.J. Moore’s bigger frame makes him capable of catching the ball in a wide catch radius. Whereas Bryant Wesco comes off as a package of speed and burner with a God-gifted quality of tracking the ball downfield. With the squad locked and loaded, the spotlight’s on—now it’s up to Cade Klubnik to own the moment and light up his freshman year.
The post Pressure Mounts on Cade Klubnik in Analyst’s Strong Verdict After Stance on Dabo Swinney’s 2 Weapons Confirmed appeared first on EssentiallySports.
