A year ago at this time, Jets quarterback Cade Klubnik did not project as the Day 3 pick he became.
Coming off a junior season for Clemson in which he threw for 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns and just six interceptions while winning an ACC Championship and reaching the College Football Playoff, Klubnik entered his senior season on a high.
What followed was a disastrous 7-5 campaign for the Tigers, but New York's newest QB holds no regrets over his final collegiate chapter.
"In my mind, I'm a winner," Klubnik told reporters Saturday when asked why he has said he's thankful for that experience. "I don't mean that in a boastful way, I just 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.
"Battled two major injuries throughout the year. Sitting there 3-5 with all of our dreams and goals out the window, 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."
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Klubnik, who dealt with ankle and wrist injuries last season, finished far off the pace from his best year at Clemson, throwing for 2,943 yards, 16 TDs and six INTs.
Considering the Jets are mired in a 15-year playoff drought, though, a signal-caller comfortable battling back from the brink could be a perfect fit. By trading up to end his draft slide in the fourth round, they took a shot on a mentally tough quarterback, one who believes he perhaps wouldn't be as ready for the next step had he enjoyed continued success in 2025.
"For me, I think I really learned how to truly face adversity and just attack," Klubnik said. "Because of that, I'm really thankful. If I would have gone and had the exact year 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 I was chasing originally wasn't there anymore."
Coming in as a fourth-round developmental prospect, Klubnik's new immediate goal is to prove himself to the Jets somewhere on the depth chart behind Geno Smith, who head coach Aaron Glenn has already declared the team's starter.
While Russell Wilson visited the Jets on April 27, leaving the door open to New York opting for a far more experienced backup behind Smith, the QB room is currently open for Klubnik to make a climb, rounded out by Brady Cook and Bailey Zappe.
At least in the early going, Glenn has only had positive things to say about Klubnik as he begins that endeavor at the team's rookie minicamp.
"(Cade is) a really smart man, so I don't think he's swimming as much as you probably think he is and that's a lot because of the way the coaches are teaching them," Glenn said Friday, per the team website. "But listen, we're going to push the envelope with that player and see exactly where he's at and how he's going to be able to operate with our offense. Obviously, you're going to see him a lot in the preseason and things like that. Again, he was a guy that we targeted, we're happy that we got him and look forward to seeing him come training camp and things like that."