Florham Park, N.J. — Sometimes, the best laid plans never travel beyond the point of plotting. Oftentimes, in the league that plays for pay, struggling organizations live and die with the best laid plans of the most recent offseason.
Meanwhile, the high-flying franchises routinely move and shake — while simultaneously understanding how flexible the National Football League demands teams to be.
How do they seem to keep such flexibility intact? Well, I submit to you, the good folks of the New York Jets universe, that they recognize and accept reality at the highest level.
Aaron Glenn’s plans
Aaron Glenn’s New York Jets have certainly brought best laid plans to the table. Or, at the very least, they’ve presented plans.
Last year, the headlines surrounded Justin Fields and a rush-first, physically dominant offense. Much of the plan was aided by a particular attitude that motivation could help inspire.
This season, things are a bit different.
Veteran Geno Smith was brought in as the offensive leader, whereas Demario Davis quarterbacks the defense. Glenn appropriately recognized just how leaderless his 2025 Jets were, and he and general manager Darren Mougey formulated a new plan.
Cade Klubnik represents a chapter in this new plan, and it’s as plainly obvious the organization wants the rookie Clemson product to win the QB2 role.
Yet, how close is he to separating himself from the pack?
Cade Klubnik’s unimpressive camp
At this point in August, the Jets’ rookie fourth-rounder hasn’t separated himself from Bailey Zappe and Brady Cook in the least. That’s simply the reality of the ongoing situation.
Klubnik, 22, continued his unimpressive rookie training camp on Friday morning. With the Jets in just helmets and shorts (third straight practice meant no pads), Frank Reich’s offense worked on third-and-long installs while facing aggressive blitz packages.
Despite the non-thud environment, Klubnik had a rough go of it.
On one play, he flushed out of the pocket, to the right, and threw one on the run, targeting a wideout flowing with him on a flat cross. With the defensive back completely attached to the inside hip, Klubnik had no business throwing the ball.
Had he led the receiver and put it in a safe, low spot, maybe he could have gotten away with it. But the end result was a throw well behind the wideout, one that the defensive back dropped.
On another play later in team sessions, Klubnik was saved from an interception by a high throw. The single-high, almost-robberish safety read the rookie’s eyes the entire time, jumped it, and could have housed it had the ball been more accurate (intermediate, middle-area route).
One of the toughest adjustments a rookie quarterback is forced to make is when it comes to hots. When dealing with immediate danger, recognizing that pressure and leading in that moment, while also delivering the ball quickly post-snap, is tough.
Sure, that’s what Friday was about, but let’s not pretend Klubnik has torn it up all summer. He struggled mightily last Saturday during the team’s first full-pads practice of the summer.
Not separating from the pack
As much as the Jets want Klubnik to win the backup quarterback position and run with it, that just isn’t happening right now. Reich, who met with the media after Friday’s practice, spoke about how his rookie signal-caller came back from the spring with the right attitude.
“I think Cade’s been good,” Reich said. “I’ve really liked how he’s come back mentally, and I feel like he’s taken a good step mentally.”
At the same time, Reich wasn’t shy about acknowledging there have been and will be further rough patches.
“It’s a lot now, (and) I think we’re at the point where everything is pretty much in,” Reich continued. “He shows the aptitude to pick it all up (and the) aptitude for big plays, right? [He’ll need to continue] to weather the storm, (and) there will be some storms. You’re a rookie quarterback, you’re going to take your lumps, but I’m happy with the whole quarterback room. All those guys who are kind of competing for the number two spot are doing a good job.”
If an alien dropped down to the practice field in Florham Park, N.J., it would have no idea that Cade Klubnik is the undisputed leader for the Jets’ QB2 job — other than the fact that he’s receiving the lion’s share of the reps.
Based on merit, he belongs in the mix with Bailey Zappe and every Jets fan’s favorite whipping boy, Brady Cook, whose service to last year’s team flies way too far under the radar.
By no means was Cook ready to be thrown to the wolves, yet he stepped on the field in a no-win situation and put an earnest foot forward. In fact, an argument could be made that Cook has outplayed Klubnik up to this point in camp — if the individual making the argument is a masochist who enjoys arguing with folks’ preconceived notions.
Not yet ready
In any event, neither Cook nor Zappe is ready for QB2 duties. Worse yet, the New York Jets’ fresh-faced youngster who leads the organization’s best laid QB2 plans, Cade Klubnik, isn’t ready either — at least not at this precise stage of the game.
He’s routinely late when throwing outside the numbers, is too robotic when moving away from obvious, immediate pressure, and is transparently working through some mind games on the practice field.
The soundest argument that could be made is two-fold:
- By the time this summer ends, and/or the first quarter of the regular season concludes, Klubnik will have had enough time to be ready.
- This is one of the rare seasons for which an NFL team can get away with not rostering a bona fide QB2. After all, if anything happens to Geno Smith, is there any chance of recovery? Better yet, would recovery even be worthwhile given the 2027 NFL draft outlook?
Aaron Glenn, a man whose job feels firmly on the line, would vehemently disagree with No. 2, as would I. In this league, and in this game, every game is worth winning.
And that’s precisely why the reality of this current situation is critical to call out: As it currently stands, the New York Jets don’t have anything even closely resembling a QB2 on the roster.
