Joel Klatt explains why Cade Klubnik is his top quarterback in college football entering 2025

We finally got to see what Clemson QB Cade Klubnik could be last year, with how he played as a junior in his second season as a starter. Now, going into his senior season and third year starting, he has all that Joel Klatt is looking for to have success this fall.

Klatt ranked Klubnik at No. 1 in his Top 10 QBs for 2025 during the latest episode of his show on Monday. That’s with Klubnik being a key part of what could lead the Tigers to winning another national title this season.

“My number one quarterback going into next season in 2025 is Cade Klubnik,” Klatt stated. “I’m a big believer in Clemson mainly because I think Cade Klubnik is going to be the best quarterback in college football next year. I think Cade is tremendous. A year ago, there were real questions going into the season about Klubnik. Would he be able to lead Clemson? What were they going to be, in particular, throwing on the outside? And now, they get him back.”

“This is a team that I think is absolutely a top five team. Dabo (Swinney) is making another run. I think he’s building for another run at Clemson, you know…I think Dabo and Clemson are building something that could threaten this year,” Klatt said. “Cade Klubnik? A big reason why I think that could potentially happen.”

After disappointing a bit as a sophomore, Klubnik finished last season with 3,639 passing yards, good for 259.9 per game on 63.4% completion. He also posted 43 touchdowns while cutting his turnovers down to seven after having 23 scores and 13 turnovers the year prior. That helped Clemson improve its offense to being Top 20 nationally in scoring and yards per game while getting back to double-digit wins, the ACC Championship, and the College Football Playoff.

Now, Klubnik has a team and offense around him that has lent itself to success for recent quarterbacks. He has developed and, with much of the unit back around him, he has all he needs to have his best season yet, even as a top contender for the Heisman Trophy for Klatt.

“I think that he’s fantastic. He’s shown why he was the number one quarterback out of high school when he played so well. He pushes the ball down the field. You think about this. He had the third-most completions in the country last year of throws that traveled at least 20 or more yards down the field. He’s athletic. He’s got good players around him. And, he’s got Garrett Riley still and this offense where he’s now played for a number of years,” Klatt said. “This is the perfect storm for a guy whose team is on the rise, he’s played a ton of football, he’s experienced. He’s the prototype of the type of guys that’s going to succeed in college football moving forward and he’s got a perfect storm around him, perfect storm around him.”

“Again, it’s going to be really tough for me not to go into next season and say, like, my Heisman pick before the year is not Cade Klubnik. Like, Cade Klubnik is the guy at the quarterback position,” Klatt continued. “The stars align. I always look at blueprints. I’ve done that with teams, and that’s why I’m so high on Penn State, and now I’m doing this with a quarterback.”

Much has been expected of Klubnik since he began his collegiate career. He might now fully fulfill that with what Klatt, and the sport, as well as Clemson is expecting from him come kickoff.

“You look at what’s around Klubnik, you look at his history, his experience? We should expect a great season out of Cade Klubnik,” Klatt said. “That’s why he is my number one quarterback going into the season in college football.”