The New York Jets added a ton of talent during the 2026 NFL Draft. New York added three players during the first round, adding some star power on both offense and defense. One Jets rookie is still confident in himself after falling to the middle rounds of the draft.
Jets QB Cade Klubnik made a confident claim during a recent interview despite tumbling to the fourth round of the draft.
“In my mind, I'm a winner,” Klubnik said Saturday at the Jets' rookie minicamp, per ESPN's Rich Cimini. “I don't mean that in a boastful way. I think that's the mentality you have to have as a quarterback, and I think that my résumé has kind of showed that as well.”
Klubnik's confidence is certainly not bruised after his draft tumble.
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Ultimately, Klubnik is “thankful” that he went through adversity during his final season at Clemson. He believes the experience will make him a better pro in the NFL.
“[Clemson] is a tough place to be,” Klubnik added, alluding to the 3-5 start. “It's a really tough place to be. My senior year, with 19 starters coming back and huge aspirations and dreams that we had as a team, we didn't really fulfill those. [I] battled two major injuries throughout the year. Sitting there at 3-5, with all of our dreams and goals out the window, we kind of had to look in the mirror and look to my teammates and say, ‘This is bigger than us. This is going to be special, though.'”
Klubnik's experience with adversity could prove useful in an organization like New York that is used to losing.
It will be interesting to see how Klubnik performs during training camp and the preseason. He enters the summer behind Geno Smith and Brady Cook on the depth chart.
The New York Jets added a ton of talent during the 2026 NFL Draft. New York added three players during the first round, adding some star power on both offense and defense. One Jets rookie is still confident in himself after falling to the middle rounds of the draft. Jets QB Cade Klubnik made a confident claim during a recent interview despite tumbling to the fourth round of the draft.