Curious Case of Cade Klubnik: How Will Clemson Use Freshman QB Early in 2022?

When he plays, how he's used and what happens throughout the 2022 season with freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik is a guessing game heading into Clemson's season opener.

Here's what we know for sure about Clemson's quarterback situation heading into the Labor Day season opener:

1. Junior DJ Uiagalelei is the starting quarterback. 

2. Freshman Cade Klubnik will play this season. 

As for when, how and what happens throughout the 2022 campaign with these two quarterbacks is anybody's guess right now.

"Cade's gonna play," Clemson offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter said last week. "There's no doubt about it, he's gonna play. How much? It's hard to tell. We're still a couple of weeks away."

What makes this so curious is the coaching staff hasn't definitively said Klubnik will make his debut in Atlanta. Granted, the last time they talked about him, the game plan wasn't installed and there's no reason to give opponent Georgia Tech a firm expectation. It'll be interesting to hear how much their tone has changed during this week's interviews on Klubnik's potential usage. 

Before analyzing what that could look like early in the season, it's important to note a couple of things: 

1. This situation isn't like 2018.

Klubnik is super talented and highly rated and will have a great college career, but he's not Trevor Lawrence. Nobody is. You can count on one hand how many true freshmen in the history of college football were ready physically and mentally to unseat a starter four games into the season and help lead the team to a national title. 

It simply isn't fair to put any of those expectations on the Texas freshman. Lawrence was a unicorn. 

Also, Lawrence outplayed incumbent Kelly Bryant. It wasn't a case of Bryant not being good. He took the Tigers to the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff in the previous season. It was about the potential of that team with Lawrence at the helm. That was what unseated Bryant. 

If Klubnik is to outright win the starting job at any point in 2022, it'll likely be because of injury or a lack of production from Uiagalelei, who was the lowest-rated passer in the ACC a year ago. 

2. This situation probably isn't like 2014, either. 

Sure, there are more comparisons and conclusions to draw from that year than in 2018, but Clemson wasn't a national title contender yet when Deshaun Watson needed a few games to surpass Cole Stoudt as the starter. Expectations were vastly different and Clemson had a tough opener, much like last year, against Georgia that season. 

Watson started when he was ready. Stoudt had moments, but the ceiling was lower. This year's Tiger team is loaded at so many key positions and has one of the best defenses in the nation. It might take both quarterbacks to elevate this offense in different ways.

Regardless, here's an interesting look at how the Tigers divided reps in those two particular season openers:

Went back and looked at Clemson's QB playing time splits by series in 2014 and 2018 openers

2014 at Georgia
Stoudt: 12
Watson: 3

2018 vs Furman
Bryant: 5
Lawrence: 5
Brice: 3

We're clearly headed toward a 2014-esque split on Labor Day. Gap feels a little wider than CS/DW.

— William Qualkinbush (@QualkTalk) August 24, 2022

It felt like the coaching staff in 2014 was just waiting for Watson to be ready. They aren't treating Klubnik or Uiagalelei that way. As of now, everybody from the head coach to the entire offensive line is backing Uiagalelei, a former five-star prospect. 

So how will Clemson handle Klubnik the first few weeks of the season? 

"That's always based on what we're doing on offense and how we're moving the ball," Streeter said. "All those things take time, a big part of it too."

Translation: The coaches aren't sure themselves. Or at least they weren't before Week 1 installment. 

This probably isn't a situation where they're going to install an entire package or drive for Klubnik on say, the third possession of the game. Sure, they might be willing to put him in that early, but if Uiagalelei and company are rolling, they aren't going to force a new QB in and disrupt continuity. 

Clemson struggled to get much of that last year in Week 1 and beyond for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest keys to 2022 is building confidence offensively early in the season. 

At the same time, if the offense struggles to put up early points, maybe you see Klubnik as a first-half spark attempt. And if he's successful, then the storyline shifts in a major way. 

It seems highly likely he plays some role in Week 1 regardless of game flow. Dabo Swinney has reiterated many times that Klubnik can make plays with his legs, and the team wants to take advantage of that. Even if he isn't confident in reading defenses yet, he can get out in the open field and make something happen, similar to what Will Taylor brought to the offense early last year. 

"He can run the ball on the edge a little bit better than DJ," Streeter said.

Also, Swinney doesn't like having inexperience at backup QB. The No. 2 spot is all Klubnik's, so the coaches will want to give him meaningful snaps early so that if something happens from an injury standpoint, Klubnik isn't walking onto the field for the first time in his college career facing a key third down or something like that. 

They want to get him in the flow, but what does it mean if he only gets garbage time (if there is any) against Georgia Tech? In that case, it probably means Uiagalelei is playing well and keeping the offense ahead of the chains. 

Regardless, Klubnik will get chances to see how this offense responds with him at the helm early in the season. Clemson is nearly a three-touchdown favorite in Week 1. Following that, FCS foe Furman comes to town for the home opener on Sept. 10. Then there's another non-conference game against Louisana Tech before ACC play begins at Wake Forest on Sept. 24.

There's plenty of time to work Klubnik into the offense and figure out his role. His development in the first three games is critical. It's hard to know how the season plays out after that, primarily because of uncertainty that Uiagalelei will overcome last year's issues. 

But until he plays, it's difficult to guess how ready Klubnik is, other than hearing what the coaches say. 

"I got a lot of confidence with him and with the first group, second group, it doesn't matter," Streeter said. "I feel really good about where he's at, but there are certain situations with him where he maybe does things different than the DJ that maybe you would use them in a certain situation."

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