Clemson Spring Outlook: Quality additions to QB group bring competition, depth

Five-star QB signee Cade Klubnik will get to work in his first Clemson spring practice in March.

by TigerNet Staff - Thu Feb 17 14:41:19 GMT-04:00 2022

Spring practice starts in less than two weeks, and after a 10-win 2021 campaign, the Clemson Tigers should have plenty of motivation when they hit the practice field on March 2. We’re taking a look at each position to see how they will look after the dust settled with transfers and mid-year enrollees.

First up is the quarterbacks, which is sure to be the focus of the fans and the media.

2022 Projected Spring QB Depth Chart

DJ Uiagalelei – 6-4, 250 jr.

Cade Klubnik – 6-2, 185 fr.

Hunter Johnson – 6-2, 215 graduate

Hunter Helms – 6-2, 210 r-so.

Billy Wiles – 6-3, 215 r-fr.

Clemson spring outlook: Quarterback

Nikki Hood: Despite having scholarship quarterback Taisun Phommachanh last season, it never felt like there was an actual quarterback battle. Uiagalelei played great as he backed up Trevor Lawrence during his freshman season, and from there, the starting quarterback job was his.

Enter Cade Klubnik, and we have ourselves a quarterback competition.

Uiagalelei received a lot of criticism last season after completing 208-of-374 passes for 2,246 yards and nine touchdowns. Uiagalelei was, however, one of only four players (offensive or defensive) to start every game for Clemson in 2021. That was an accomplishment in and of itself after he suffered a knee injury late in the season, but Clemson’s offense didn’t live up to expectations -- and (deserved or not) a lot of that falls on Uiagalelei.

While Uiagalelei enters 2022 as the starter, Klubnik will have a lot to say about what happens in the quarterback room. He comes to Clemson, having won back-to-back-to-back state championships for Westlake and as the Gatorade Player of the Year for Texas and the National Player of the Year by multiple outlets. He has all of the tools – physical and mental – to come in and win the starting job. If he can pick up the playbook, he will command the huddle and elevate the players around him to be the best they can be.

A legitimate quarterback competition can only make Uiagalelei and Klubnik better, but my guess is we won’t have resolution until the fall and maybe not until after the first couple of games of the 2022 season.

David Hood: The spring game last season featured Uiagalelei, Phommachanh, and Hunter Helms taking the snaps, with Helms moving between the two teams. Let’s face it, there wasn’t a lot of depth in the spring, and the coaches did everything in their power to keep everyone healthy. On the horizon were quarterback/baseball prospect Bubba Chandler and quarterback/baseball prospect Will Taylor and preferred walk-on Billy Wiles, but they were all going to be summer enrollees. As it turned out, Phommachanh suffered a torn Achilles in the spring game, Chandler was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Tigers went into fall camp short on experience.

That looks to be different this year. Uiagalelei has a full year as a starter under his belt, and Helms has two years of experience as a backup. Wiles played limited snaps last season but has been around long enough to know the playbook. Phommachanh has moved on and is still in the transfer portal, but he is replaced by veteran Hunter Johnson.

Johnson returns to Clemson after three seasons at Northwestern, where he played in 11 games, completing 95-of-183 attempts for 856 yards and five touchdowns with eight interceptions. Add in the 5-star quarterback Klubnik, and the Tigers finally have some depth at the position.

Brandon Rink: The year 2021 for Uiagalelei was one that started with great expectation -- and the new-age NIL endorsements to go with it -- and finished with an injury-hampered 10-3 campaign capped with a Cheez-It Bowl win. The expectations built under Dabo Swinney in the last decade call for a QB at least in the Heisman running and a College Football Playoff run or bust (no matter how fair or unfair that expectation may be at times).

After what was unquestionably an off-year for Uiagalelei and Clemson, how does the junior with all the physical tools -- and some solid highlight videos to look back on -- respond? Clemson's coaches have already hinted to Uiagalelelei slimming down, and it seems like the injury luck has to turn the Tigers' way at the receiver position at some point to help him out.

Klubnik looks to have all the tools to challenge for QB1 out of the gate, but Uiagalelei has been in the system for quite a while and has been a leader in the program. The best-case scenario likely is Uiagalelei showing that 2020 form (404 yards and three touchdowns per game in starts versus Boston College and at Notre Dame) with the improvement you would expect over years of knowledge and experience and Klubnik showing his talent along the way for a much-improved 2022 Clemson offensive attack. What we actually see in 2022, however, is to be determined.