Former Clemson star Cade Klubnik, now a rookie quarterback for the New York Jets, met with the media at the team’s rookie minicamp last weekend.

Among other things, Klubnik discussed his first experiences as a professional.

“It’s been fun,” Klubnik said. “It’s been fun to put the helmet on again and go spin the rock and learn some new football. It’s been a blast.”

Klubnik was considered a potential first-round pick during his career at Clemson, especially in the offseason prior to his senior season last year, following a junior season during which he passed for 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns and only six interceptions while leading the Tigers to an ACC title and appearance in the College Football Playoff.

Unfortunately, Klubnik’s senior season in 2025 did not go as planned. The Tigers as a team had a highly disappointing 7-6 season, and Klubnik himself saw his numbers fall off compared to his stellar 2024 campaign, as he threw for 2,943 yards, 16 touchdowns and six picks.

As a result, Klubnik’s draft stock suffered as well, and he didn’t come off the board until Day 3 of this year’s NFL Draft. That’s when the Jets traded up to get him, dealing away two fourth-round picks (Nos. 128 and 140) to the Cincinnati Bengals in order to move up 18 spots and grab him in the fourth round with the No. 110 overall pick.

Considering a lot of draft experts were forecasting Klubnik as a potential first-round pick, and he ended up slipping to the fourth round, does that add some motivation for Klubnik and put a chip on his shoulder as he enters the NFL?

“To be honest, not really,” Klubnik said. “God had a plan for me and this is where I’m at right now, and I’m thankful for it. I’m thankful for what happened this last year because I feel like I’m more prepared for the future because of it.”

Klubnik expounded upon what makes him thankful for the tough year he experienced in his final college season.

Klubnik believes the adversity he faced last season can help prepare him for what lies ahead as a pro. He says the adversity prepared him better for the NFL than a perfect season would have.

“For me, I think that I really learned how to truly face adversity and just attack it,” Klubnik said. “Because of that, I’m really thankful. If I would have gone and had the exact year that I dreamed and worked for, I don’t think I’d be prepared as much as I am now because I learned really how to face that adversity and get up every single day even though the end goal that I was chasing originally wasn’t there anymore. It’s tough and it was really hard to go through, but I’m really thankful that it happened.”

Klubnik is now part of a Jets QB room that also includes Geno Smith, Brady Cook and Bailey Zappe. Klubnik will jockey for position on the depth chart behind Smith, who was named the starter by Jets head coach Aaron Glenn.

Klubnik, a two-time ACC Championship Game MVP, posted a 26-14 record as a starter for the Tigers, finishing his career fifth in wins by a starting quarterback in school history.

A former five-star prospect, Klubnik came to Clemson after going 27-0 as a starter his last two years at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, while guiding the school to back-to-back state titles.

“In my mind, I’m a winner, and I don’t mean that in a boastful way,” Klubnik said. “I think that’s the mentality 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 out the year 3-5 at Clemson. It was a tough place to be. That’s a really tough place to be. With my senior year, 19 starters coming back and huge aspirations and dreams that we had as a team, and we didn’t really fulfill those.”

Last season, Klubnik battled various ailments including ankle and wrist injuries. As he mentioned, after coming into the season with national championship aspirations, the Tigers got off to a 3-5 start before winning their final four regular season games to finish the regular season with seven wins. The season ended with a 22-10 loss to Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl.

“Battled two major injuries throughout the year,” Klubnik said. “Sitting there 3-5 with all of our dreams and goals out the window, and kind of had to look in the mirror and look to my teammates and say this is bigger than us, this is gonna be special. We ended up turning that thing around, going to win four straight at the end of the year.”