Cade Klubnik Selected by Jets in Fourth Round of 2026 NFL Draft

Cade Klubnik entered the 2025 college football season projected by many draft analysts as a first-round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft. Instead he was chosen in the fourth round, a pick that some evaluators viewed as reaching given pre-draft rankings that placed him as the eighth or ninth quarterback available. Klubnik's statistics dropped from 36 touchdown passes in 2024 to 16 in 2025.

Klubnik played through a significant ankle injury that prevented him from walking up stairs, requiring him to use an elevator to attend team meetings. Despite the challenges, Klubnik said he views the season positively.

“For me, I think I really learned how to truly face adversity and just attack it,” Klubnik said. “I think because of that I’m really thankful. If I would have gone and had the exact year that I dreamed [of] and worked for I don’t think I’d be as prepared as I am now because I learned really how to face that adversity and get up every single day even though that end goal that I was chasing isn’t really there anymore.

It’s tough. ” Klubnik took part in the rookie minicamp on Friday and Saturday, wearing No. 10. Observers noted accurate passing during on-field sessions and measured comments when speaking with reporters afterward.

The team had traded up in the draft to select him in the fourth round. A coach described him as intelligent and said the staff plans to evaluate him thoroughly in the offense during the preseason and training camp. Klubnik arrived at Clemson as the top-rated recruit in the country after setting records at Westlake High School in Texas.

He led the Tigers to the College Football Playoff in his junior season but faced criticism for not fully meeting early expectations. In 2025 the team recovered from a 3-5 start by winning its final four games and earning a bowl berth. “I think that in my mind, I’m a winner,” Klubnik said.

“I don’t mean that in a boastful way. I think that that’s the mentality that you have to have as a quarterback. I think that my résumé has kind of showed that as well. But this past year, we didn’t win as much.

We started the year 3-5 at Clemson. It’s a tough place to be. It’s a really tough place to be. With my senior year and 19 starters coming back and huge aspirations and dreams that we had as a team and we didn’t really fulfill those.

I battled two major injuries throughout the year, sitting there at 3-5 and all of our dreams and goals out the window and kind of had to look in the mirror and look at my teammate and say this is bigger than us. This is going to be special.