Heading into the 2023 college football season, the player who will have the most significant impact on Clemson’s season is starting quarterback Cade Klubnik.
Klubnik’s ceiling is immense, with the talent and work ethic to become a legitimate star in college football. Though he lacks experience, every quarterback has to start somewhere, and the supporting cast around this young quarterback is strong enough to make his first season starting under center a good one.
With the season getting closer, Athlon’s Steven Lassan released his rankings for the ACC’s top quarterbacks. Klubnik ranked No.3 behind No.1 Drake Maye and No.2 Jordan Travis.
It’s no secret Klubnik is still largely unproven and had a shaky performance in Clemson’s Orange Bowl loss. But since we are projecting ahead, the guess here is the former five-star recruit takes off under the guidance of new play-caller Garrett Riley. In 10 appearances last year, Klubnik threw for 697 yards and two scores and added 139 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. In the aforementioned Orange Bowl, Klubnik struggled behind a shaky offensive line and was limited to just 5.9 yards per attempt on 30 completions for 320 yards. However, in the previous game, he helped the Tigers torch North Carolina 39-10 in the ACC Championship by throwing for 279 yards and a score and rushing for 30 yards and a touchdown.
The rest of the top five was rounded out by Duke’s starting quarterback Riley Leonard (No.4) and new NC State starting QB Brennan Armstrong (No.5). This is a strong ranking for Klubnik, who ranks ahead of many seasoned ACC QBs who have proven themselves to be among the best.
Klubnik will climb these rankings with a strong season.
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