Well, that didn’t take long.
Only a couple of weeks after the New York Jets received some criticism for trading up to draft Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik in the fourth round, the 22-year-old has already emerged as a fan favorite in Florham Park.
New York’s rookies reported to minicamp this week, and Klubnik stole the “show” (if we can call it that). With some nice throws on the practice field and a smashing success of a press conference, Klubnik has won over Jets fans.
The quarterback-starved fanbase is already bought in to the idea that Klubnik can be developed into the team’s long-term answer under center. While Geno Smith has already secured the rights to New York’s Week 1 starting job, many fans are ready to get to the stage of the season where the Jets decide it’s time to see what Klubnik can do.
If we’re being pragmatic, any and all “franchise quarterback” hype over Klubnik at this stage is nothing short of bonkers. He’s a fourth-round pick. The odds of a Day 3 quarterback becoming a quality NFL starter are extremely slim.
Optimism about Klubnik would be more reasonable if/when he shows something in a live-game environment—even if it’s only the preseason. Until then, he is subject to the success rate of fourth-round quarterbacks, no matter how slick his practice-field throws are or how much his podium quotes make you want to run through a brick wall.
With those reasonable thoughts out of the way, let’s throw pragmatism to the wayside and give in to the hype.
Here are three reasons why Jets fans should absolutely buy in on Klubnik’s potential to be the Jets’ franchise quarterback.
1. The Jets are overdue
At some point, one of these dart throws has got to connect.
Klubnik is the 48th quarterback drafted by the Jets in franchise history. Of the previous 47, only one either earned All-Pro honors or won a championship in New York: Joe Namath, who accomplished both.
Namath was the 18th quarterback drafted by New York (yes, they drafted that many quarterbacks early in their history). Since he was chosen second overall in the 1965 AFL draft, the Jets have chosen 29 quarterbacks over 60 drafts (1966-2025), and none of them has been named an All-Pro or brought home a title.
Is the 30th time the charm?
Of course, all logic points to the answer being “no.” Again, Klubnik is a fourth-round pick. We have to be realistic about what that means.
You can make all the excuses in the world about Klubnik’s supporting cast at Clemson and how it was the reason that he dropped from a potential No. 1 pick to a fourth-rounder. But NFL teams are well aware of those excuses; they watched his film more extensively than any fan or analyst. If they believed that Klubnik’s talent was actually overshadowed by his situation to that degree, then his first-round stock would have sustained.
That didn’t happen. He was drafted in the fourth round because he’s a fourth-round talent.
Every once in a blue moon, though, a fourth-round quarterback breaks through as a quality NFL starter.
There have been eight fourth-round quarterbacks in NFL history to eclipse 20,000 career passing yards. The two most recent were Dak Prescott (2016) and Kirk Cousins (2012). All-Pro passers Rich Gannon (1987) and Joe Theismann (1971) are also on the list.
The odds of any given fourth-round quarterback becoming an NFL star are too low to build a reasonable case that Klubnik will join the likes of Prescott and Cousins. Still, why not choose to believe? Jets fans have suffered long enough. They’ve watched their team roll the dice on countless Day 3 passers who showed early potential and ultimately bombed. What’s another?
The math says that if they keep throwing (stuff) at the wall, something will stick eventually, right? Maybe Klubnik is the blue moon New York has been waiting for.
2. He has high-ceiling tools
In terms of his build, Klubnik doesn’t jump off the screen as having the most tantalizing profile. He measured in at 6-foot-2 and 207 pounds at the combine. That makes him a tad undersized for the position.
But when you watch him play, Klubnik displays tools that give him a high ceiling at the NFL level.
Klubnik’s mobility pops on tape. He is an escape artist in the dropback passing game and can threaten defenses as a rusher, both on designed plays and as a scrambler.
In 2025, Klubnik was sacked on just 11.6% of his pressured dropbacks, the 11th-lowest rate among 58 Power Four quarterbacks (min. 300 dropbacks). It speaks to his escapability.
On the ground, Klubnik racked up 1,378 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns in his Tigers career. The Jets must figure out why Klubnik declined from 588 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in 2024 to 223 yards and four touchdowns in 2025, but the 2024 season showed his ceiling as a rusher.
Klubnik did not test at the combine, but he participated in drills at Clemson’s pro day, and he backed up the mobility that he displayed in-game. He was clocked at a consensus 4.65 in the forty-yard dash, a fantastic mark for a quarterback; that’s between Jalen Hurts’ 4.59 and Josh Allen’s 4.75. Klubnik also recorded a 33.5-inch vertical, equal to Allen’s mark.
In addition to his mobility, Klubnik has immense upside as a deep passer. In 2024, Klubnik completed 35 of 78 deep passes (44.9%) for 1,240 yards, 16 touchdowns, and three interceptions. He had the third-most deep completions in the country, ranking between 2025 first-round picks Jaxson Dart (37) and Cam Ward (34).
That deep production fell off a cliff in 2025 (17 of 49 for 535 yards, 9 TD, 3 INT), and the Jets have to figure out why. But the ceiling is there.
Klubnik has flashed elite-level potential with his legs and his arm. Whether or not he can tap into that ceiling consistently at the pro level remains to be seen, but the potential exists, and it isn’t hypothetical. We’ve seen it.
3. The Jets are building a quality environment for quarterbacks to develop
Many of the Jets’ failed quarterback selections were tossed into unfavorable environments, causing them to spiral early in their careers and never find their footing.
That isn’t to say that players like Zach Wilson, Bryce Petty, and Christian Hackenberg would have panned out in a better situation. But the Jets have minimized their chances of finding diamonds in the rough by putting each of their lottery tickets into environments where they are expected to be saviors, rather than treating them like young football players who require proper nurturing.
At last, the Jets seem to be building an infrastructure in which the supporting cast will raise up the quarterback, rather than asking the quarterback to lift the supporting cast.
New York has added four non-quarterbacks to their offense in the first round of the past three drafts: left tackle Olu Fashanu (2024), right tackle Armand Membou (2025), tight end Kenyon Sadiq (2026), and wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. (2026). They also used recent second-rounders on interior lineman Joe Tippmann (2023) and tight end Mason Taylor (2025).
Add in Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, who have both been inked to long-term extensions, and the Jets are sitting pretty with young offensive talent for the future.
Geno Smith’s presence should not be overlooked, either. With Smith in tow, the Jets do not have to force Klubnik into action any sooner than they would like to. In the meantime, Smith provides valuable leadership that Klubnik can benefit from.
By punting on a major quarterback investment over the past two years, the Jets have bought themselves time to build up the supporting cast around the quarterback position. Now, they are prepared to insert a prized young quarterback into a system that is ready to support him, rather than forcing him to survive in a fixer-upper on the mend.
This strategy is intended to benefit an incoming first-rounder in the 2027 draft. But at the moment, Klubnik is the lone young quarterback on New York’s roster with legitimate long-term upside. So, if he hits the ground running, he could be the one who ultimately benefits from New York’s plan.
The opportunity is there for Klubnik to surprise the Jets with his early development speed and step up as their hopeful franchise quarterback a year earlier than they expected to get one. Obviously, it’s an unlikely scenario, and the Jets certainly aren’t counting on it, but the ball is in Klubnik’s court.
He’ll get to enjoy the same weapons, offensive line, and coaching that New York is planning to give their 2027 first-round pick, so if he’s got the goods, now is his chance to show it.
