Clemson football: Keeping the quarterback battle in perspective
There’s obviously been a lot of talk and opinions around the quarterback position for Clemson football recently.
Some choose the conservative route, others the hyperbolic and still others somewhere in between.
This morning I came across Larry Williams discussing the Clemson quarterback position on the Solid Verbal Podcast and thought it was a well thought out position.
Listening to it may help some gain perspective.
Those Clemson fans expecting Cade Klubnik to start September 5 against Georgia Tech are going to be disappointed in all likelihood. That’s just not who Dabo is or how he runs his program.
There are those around us who want to accept Dabo’s decisions when they think they’re correct and override him when they think he’s wrong. It’s human nature in some ways.
But at what point does Dabo earn our trust to make this decision?
This is not to say he doesn’t make mistakes, obviously he does. Sometimes big ones.
Maybe Clemson wins in Tallahassee if Deshaun starts. Or maybe they lose by 20 and if you think you know for sure, you’re kidding yourself.
More than that to me though, is Williams’ take on what Klubnik is not, more than what he is as a quarterback.
He’s not Deshaun Watson and he’s not Trevor Lawrence and to put that on his shoulders is unfair.
As someone who has watched Klubnik through high school (I live in the Austin area), I believe this to be true. Klubnik was very good at the highest level of Texas football, but he has neither the arm strength or size of Trevor Lawrence.
What Klubnik is though, is a leader and Williams shares an anecdote of Klubnik already leading through actions and supporting his teammates to be before they ever arrive on Clemson’s campus.
He’s the guy you want not only representing your football team, but also your university.
Cade Klubnik’s the real deal from all appearances and reports.
None of that means he should be anointed the football team’s savior, especially in his true freshman year. Neither does a good performance in a glorified scrimmage that amounted to touch football for the quarterbacks.
As for how this all turns out? I really have no idea. I think I know what happens at some point, but that’s just a guess, based on speculation from people that haven’t seen much more of Clemson’s practices than I have.
After all, this is the time of year for different opinions and wild speculation and that’s OK. It’s not going to change anything, and that’s OK, too.
Knowing that others share a similar perspective, especially someone as close to the program as Williams, may make me feel better about my perspective, but it’s still just an opinion, like everyone else’s.