Shortly after being drafted by the New York Jets, former Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik has already received a warning.
The Buffalo Bills selected pass rusher T.J. Parker in the second round of the 2026 NFL draft. During his media availability, he was asked about his former Clemson teammate entering his same division in the AFC East at the NFL level.
“Cade, when you see this, man, look, if I get the chance to play you and you out there throwing that rock, it ain’t no practice now. You don’t got no purple jersey on. I don’t gotta ease up no more. I’m going to run full speed through you, you know what I’m saying? Obviously, I’m going to land with my hands on the ground so we don’t get fined, you know what I’m saying, we’re going to play within the parameters,” Parker told the media via Sal Capaccio.
“I’m super excited for him. He is a hard worker, an unbelievable guy, he’s gonna come in right away and try to be a leader as much as possible. Man, I’m super excited to see how his career pans out. Obviously, they’ve Geno Smith there so that’d be great for him to learn behind him and get things going. So I’m super excited for him,” Parker added.
Parker and Klubnik were teammates at Clemson for three seasons (2023-25). Now they have gone from friends/teammates to foes/enemies at the NFL level.
Getting Into the Klubnik Evaluation
Klubnik, 22, will turn 23 during his rookie season in 2026.
He measured in at the NFL Combine at 6-foot-2 and weighed 207 pounds. Klubnik appeared in 49 games and made 40 starts at the college level. With those opportunities, Klubnik completed 64% of his passes, threw for 10,123 passing yards, and had a 73 touchdown to 24 interception ratio.
After the 2024 season, there was hype that Klubnik could be a future first-round draft choice in the NFL. He set new career highs in passing attempts (486), completions (308), passing yards (3,639), and passing touchdowns (36).
He also set career highs in the ground game. Klubnik had 119 carries for 463 rushing yards and scored seven rushing touchdowns.
However, he is coming off a down year, which explains why he was available in the fourth round in April’s draft. Klubnik threw for 2,943 passing yards, completed 65.6% of his passes, and had a 16 touchdown to 6 interception ratio.
If the Jets are getting the player from 2024, they might have one of the true steals of this draft. However, if the Jets are getting the player from last season, he won’t be long for the NFL.
3 Possible Outcomes for Klubnik With the Jets
The Jets traded up in the fourth round to secure Klubnik’s services. He was the No. 110 overall pick on day three of the NFL draft.
He is at a triple fork in the road that could lead him down three different paths.
The first path is a bust. Klubnik doesn’t end up working out, and he continues to play like he did last season.
The second path is a long-term backup quarterback. That may not sound sexy on the surface, but that is an extremely valuable asset if he evolves into that for the Jets; that would be a massive win.
The third path is a franchise quarterback. Perhaps Klubnik just takes a massive leap from college to the pros, and he becomes the long-term answer. Obviously, that would be a seismic win for the Jets.
Next year, the Jets have three first-round picks in the 2027 NFL draft. If they found their franchise QB in 2026, they can use those picks to build around Klubnik instead of replacing him.
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