Cade Klubnik 2026 Prospect profile

May 18, 2025, 10:06 AM

	Cade Klubnik 2024.png(41.9 K)
	Cam Ward 2024.png(39.4 K)

Hi y'all, friendly SMU fan and NFL draft geek here. I did this write-up and thought Clemson fans might have an opinion I wanted to hear to further my evaluation as the year progresses.

To start off, what will be a series of prospect profiles on the top players who I believe will be in the 2026 NFL draft (*as I look at Arch Manning suspiciously*) I decided to look first at Cade Klubnik, the QB for Clemson.

Background
Klubnik burst onto the football scene at the famous Westlake High School in Austin, Texas—the same school that has produced the Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Drew Brees and Nick Foles. Klubnik went on to set school records for career passing yards and touchdowns at Westlake while leading Westlake to three Texas 6A state titles. He was an On3 industry-rated 5-star recruit, and the number one-rated QB in the class of 2022, and the number 18 player overall nationally. He committed to join Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers and enrolled in 2022.

Physical Attributes
Klubnik has a near-ideal size for a QB. He is 6’2” and 210 lbs. You would hope for another inch or two and maybe another 15 lbs, but the numbers as they are leave no real concern. Just watching his tape and his ability to hold onto the ball, you would not think he has small hands to worry about either. He is also quite fast. Early in the season against NC State, he was clocked at reaching 21+MPH. He does not pair that speed with any elite agility, and is more of a straight-line runner who struggles to make people miss in a phone booth. Add to that this dude is tough. He is not afraid to take shots when delivering the football or when running. The latter will most likely be coached out of him in the NFL.

Data and Tape
Radar Charts!
It is time to introduce one of my favorite data visualizations out there in sports, the radar chart:

This data set is based on all FBS QBs who had at least as many passing dropbacks as Army’s Bryson Daily and played in at least six games. The closer to the outside a data point is, the better, because that means the player is in a better percentile for the specified stat (stats where one would want a player to be in a lower percentile, like turnover-worthy play rate, have been inverted to normalize the radar).

Since this might be your first time seeing a graph like this, here is a nice starting comparison point:

Now, how that radar comes about from Klubnik’s play on the field.

Synthesizing data and tape
PFF had Klubnik ranked as their QB10 in OFF last year, and it is not hard to see why. He can make every throw on the football field that you would want someone to make. With his strong arm, he excels at throws deep down the field. PFF gave him the 10th highest passing grade of any quarterback in throws 20+ yards down the field, and he was tied for 2nd in the number of big-time throws he had last year. Much of that can be attributed to his consistent throwing base, quick release, patience, and toughness. His ability to throw the boundary go ball, and his trust in his receiver to go and grab it is one of my favorite parts of his game. I wish he put just a bit more loft on his deep balls. That's to be expected of someone more reliant on a fastball, but he has shown the ability to do it at times.

As mentioned earlier, this dude is fast, too. Hitting 21+MPH is good for any football player, but not many QBs can do that. It does take him a second to get up to full speed, so I am not expecting him to show out at the 40 for the combine next year, but it is something defenses have to keep in mind. He started the year as quite a poor scrambler and especially designed runner, but as the season went on, he became more comfortable with it and became a threat.

However, those same movement skills do not translate to one of the worst areas of his game, his throwing on the move. I think this is also a symptom of a larger hole in Klubnik’s game currently, and that is what happens to him when his mechanics break down. Nearly every bad throw (which almost universally were overthrows) can be attributed to being off base when he makes a throw. Sometimes his body gets out of sync when throwing the ball. If you watch one of his overthrows, you will often see the front of his body getting out over his skis or leaning way too far back. That same lack of sync occurs when he is on the run. His steps don’t line up with when he is trying to throw, and again, it leads to some of his worst plays of the year (looking at you, game-sealing interception against South Carolina).

Klubnik does seem to process the game well. He works well through his reads, even if at times he can be a bit hesitant. There’s no doubt in his ability to make big-time throws, and when he is rolling, you see him trust himself to do it. But in some of his off games, he hesitates for a second or turns down an open receiver for a safer option. And that is not a bad thing! He does an incredible job of not making bad plays worse and limiting turnovers and sacks. He does that with his athleticism to get out of the pocket and is not afraid to throw the ball away when necessary.

Grade and Outlook
Cade Klubnik has a real chance to be the best overall QB, if not the best overall player, in this year’s upcoming draft. He has taken significant strides in the past two offseasons, and if those continue, it might not be a bad idea to place Clemson National Championship futures. The most important area I want to see improvement in is increased consistency in his base so that he can mitigate some of his worst plays and make it easier for his receivers to make plays after catching the ball. Seeing the elimination of some of his hesitancy would also be very welcome.

Grade: 7.1/10

Also if you like this and want more like it, feel free to subscribe to my free substack here: https://duncandrafts.substack.com/

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Cade Klubnik 2026 Prospect profile

Re: Cade Klubnik 2026 Prospect profile

Re: Cade Klubnik 2026 Prospect profile

Thanks for the post and data Duncan

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