No matter how many times Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney tells the media that D.J. Uiagalelei is the quarterback they won’t listen.
It was just Wednesday, after the Tigers second and final scrimmage of the season, that Swinney indicated Uiagalelei was the man. Yet, less than 24 hours later, CBSSports.com listed Klubnik on their true freshman All-America team, despite saying he may not be needed this season, and as one of six freshman ready to burst onto the scene.
Kudos to Klubnik, but it strikes me that the media is not going to let go of this potential story, no matter what Dabo says.
Klubnik, as the top rated quarterback in the 247Sports.com composite rankings in the class of 2022, is going to be a story no matter what.
However, It does seem a bit preposterous to put him on the freshman “All-American” team when we’re not even sure he’s going to play significant snaps this season.
On the flip side, perhaps it’s semantics, but it does seem reasonable to include him on the list of those READY to make an impact, because that’s not necessarily predicated on Klubnik playing meaningful snaps in 2022.
Clemson football quarterback Cade Klubnik has an impeccable pedigree, but Dabo says this is D.J. Uiagalelei’s team
Not only was Klubnik the top quarterback in the 2022 class, he’s from a real life quarterback factory known as Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. Westlake has produced Drew Brees and Nick Foles (both Super Bowl MVPs), along with Sam Ehlinger currently of the Indianapolis Colts, among others.
This isn’t about Klubnik, he’s going to be really good at some point, and it could be this season.
Given the struggles of D.J. Uiagalelei in particular and the 2021 Clemson offense in general, I understand the speculation and need to clutter the internet with “quarterback battle” related stories with the Clemson name attached.
At some point though, we have to either trust what Dabo says, or not, yet CBS has seemingly chosen neither and would rather not so subtly imply that Klubnik will play a significant role this season, when there’s been little to no indication of that plan from the coaching staff.