CHARLOTTE — On Sunday, Kaden Craft proved why he is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the 2028 class.
The four-star signal caller, out of Lake Norman in North Carolina, was overly impressive at the UA Next camp’s series stop in Charlotte, earning MVP honors over some other very talented quarterbacks.
“This is my first time, because last year, I wasn’t able to come out — I was hurt last year,” Craft told The Clemson Insider after the event. “Getting out here and winning MVP, it means a lot. Just shows the preparation and hard work. To come out and win MVP, competing against all these guys from all over, all these top guys at a top camp is amazing.”
Craft made his second visit to Clemson last month, attending the Spring Elite Day in early April. With a very small number of quarterbacks on hand for the event, Craft got a lot of time with both Tajh Boyd and Chad Morris.
His first visit came last season when he was on hand for the Tigers’ win over Florida State in November.
“It went very well,” Craft said of the most recent visit. “Got to talk with Coach Boyd and Coach Morris. Sat down in a QB meeting with them. Talked scheme and how I fit their program. How they do things and Coach Swinney’s way of recruiting. Just being a family guy, you can tell that just by how all the coaches and all the players come back to be coaches. You can tell they really want to build a relationship with you.”
As a sophomore, Craft passed for 1,739 yards with 17 touchdowns to just four interceptions. He also rushed for 387 yards with 13 more scores via his legs. The Rivals Industry Rankings slot him No. 113 overall and No. 8 among all quarterbacks in his class. Georgia, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Miami and Michigan are just a few of his early offers.
Despite not having an offer, Craft actually has a fairly unique connection to Clemson through new offensive assistant Freddie Kitchens. His first offer came from Kitchens while he was the offensive coordinator at North Carolina. That relationship has continued now that Kitchens has moved on to Clemson.
The 6-foot-4 quarterback is planning to return to campus in June to work out at Dabo Swinney’s high school camp. That is when the Tigers will start handing out offers to recruits in the 2028 class, and Craft is hoping he comes out of that as one of the staff’s top targets.
“It would mean a lot. I mean, they only offer a few and they take their time to recruit them and see who they are,” Craft said. “It would mean a lot for them to offer me out of all the guys in the country to be honest, with how selective they are.”
