Dabo Swinney discusses Cade Klubnik's 'seamless' adjustment, how he's a 'clone' of Deshaun Watson

DJ Uiagalelei may be the starting quarterback for Clemson this year but true freshman Cade Klubnik has garnered a ton of hype. A five-star prospect coming out of Austin Westlake High School, Klubnik enrolled in the program in January and since then, has been impressing heavily.

Head coach Dabo Swinney talked about the transition Klubnik has gone through over the past eight months, calling it “seamless.” Even with the quarterback factory the Tigers have produced over the past few seasons, Swinney compared the freshman to the likes of Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson.

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“Been seamless,” Swinney said. “Been just like you want to see. I’ve said the same thing many time — I see the same things in Deshaun, same things in Trevor, same things in Cade when it comes to aptitude. And DJ. All three of those guys came in mid-year. Deshaun, Trevor, and DJ, and right out of the gate, you saw the aptitude. You saw the high level of skill and talent. You saw the commitment and work ethic, the attention to detail. All of those things.

“Cade has come in and he’s so similar to all of those guys. He’s got everything. All three of those guys — they just took to it. You could just see them coming, coming, coming. And it’s the same thing with Cade.”

Coming out of high school, Klubnik was ranked a five-star prospect by the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting services. He was the top quarterback in the 2022 class and No. 4 in the state of Texas.

Dabo Swinney compares Cade Klubnik to Deshaun Watson

Of the three quarterbacks Swinney mentioned, Watson is the one who compares the most to Klubnik according to the head coach. From a physical standpoint, the height and weight are similar, while the current Clemson player may be faster.

Swinney ended his assessment by calling Klubnik a “special prospect” heading into the 2022 season.

“The game is not too fast for him,” Swinney said. “I mean, he’s a rookie, he’s a young guy. But he’s doing what he needs to do. I compare him more to Deshaun just because they’re so similar physically. Almost clones if you put them side by side and how they’re built structurally. I think they were both around 179 pounds and got in here.

“That first August, they were both around there at 200. Cade’s probably a little faster but they throw the ball very similar. Very similar characteristics as far as creativity. He’s a special young prospect, just like those other guys.”

Klubnik will begin the year as the backup but if Clemson does get off to a slow offensive start, there could be some pressure to make changes. And now, we know Swinney is high on his freshman.