Christopher Vizzina has waited three years for an opportunity to become Clemson football's starting quarterback. As fall camp gets underway, the senior is closer than ever to getting his shot.
Dabo Swinney confirmed Thursday that Vizzina remains ahead of freshman Tait Reynolds in the race to replace Cade Klubnik, who was selected by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the NFL draft.
"Again, he's got the pole position, but he's still gotta finish the race," Swinney said.
"He's gotta go finish the race, but he's got a lead into the second half here, so we'll see what happens."
Vizzina hasn't played much during his Clemson career, but he has spent those years developing behind Klubnik rather than looking elsewhere for an easier path to playing time. Swinney believes that approach has helped Vizzina earn credibility inside the Tigers' locker room.

#race #klubnik #finish #christopher

I recently posted a series of videos on my YouTube channel (please jump there and subscribe) about the biggest X-factor players for Clemson's 2026 football season. Kobe McCloud and Amare Adams were the two biggest for the defense. On offense the biggest X-factor was quite obvious — Christopher Vizzina.
Vizzina was a blue-chip recruit out of Alabama who came to Clemson and waited behind Cade Klubnik. Entering his fourth year in the program, he has only attempted 105 collegiate passes. In an era where starting QBs hit the field quickly (e.g., Julian Sayin [OSU], Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele [Cal]) or gain playing time at a smaller program and transfer in with experience (e.g., Byrum Brown [AU], Anthony Colandrea (UN], Colton Joseph [UW]) it almost feels weird to turn the reigns over to the QB understudy. Reminder – This is actually normal. What everyone else is doing is what's new and different. Here's what Coach Swinney said about it:
"There's a reason why we had confidence in the decision we made. That's because we're there every day. CV has earned the opportunity to go be the starting quarterback at Clemson based on everything we've observed."
Unfortunately, they've observed it, but we have not. After a relatively positive performance in a spot start vs. SMU, Vizzina only attempted 15 more passes the rest of the year. They all came against Furman. That was it! We didn't even get an appearance in a cold and dreary Pinstripe Bowl to spark some confidence in him taking the reins for 2026.
What little we've seen from Vizzina outside of that SMU start has not been pretty. He's mostly struggled in Clemson Spring Games. He also struggled in his brief appearance against Boston College, throwing an interception shortly after Klubnik went down with injury. His late season opportunity against Furman yielded just 3.5 yards per pass attempt. His start vs. SMU likely gives us our best data though, so that's what I dive into in the film session below.

#clemson #factor

Good morning Gang Green Nation! There is some good news for the Jets and Geno Smith today. Smith has been in the headlines recently for several run-ins with the police. The only serious allegations involved claims of battery against a Florida woman. We now get word that the police investigation into those allegations is inactive for lack of evidence against Smith. If you're a tank commander or just really want to see Cade Klubnik in extended action this season this may not be good news. For those Jets fans who would like to see some modicum of success for the Jets this season, this is very good news. Smith is unlikely to be a star for the Jets, but he is by far the best option at quarterback on the current Jets roster.
Here are your links to your New York Jets this glorious Wednesday in July.
Susanna Weir – Minkah Fitzpatrick, Nahshon Wright Add New Look to Jets Secondary
Amanda Vogt – Jets 2026 Training Camp Preview | Defensive Line Gets Bigger
Jason Fitzgerald – Offensive Line Investments for 2026

The New York Jets were terrible on offense throughout the 2025 season. That led to sweeping personnel changes this offseason. The Jets parted ways with quarterbacks Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor, and even fired offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand after one season.
The Jets hired Frank Reich to be Aaron Glenn's new offensive play-caller. Geno Smith was acquired to play quarterback. The supporting cast got extensions for Breece Hall and Joe Tippmann, and first-round picks Omar Cooper Jr. and Kenyon Sadiq also joined the offense.
Bleacher Report recently ****** sed the best and worst-case scenarios for every offense in the league. The dream scenario includes rookies like Cooper and Sadiq firmly establishing themselves as building blocks. The nightmare would see the quarterbacks struggling for a second straight season.
"With all due respect to Geno Smith and rookie fourth-round pick Cade Klubnik, the New York Jets' quarterback of the future probably won't be drafted until 2027," Moe Moton wrote. "Next year's class is expected to be deep at the position, and New York already owns three first-round selections. In a best-case scenario, the Jets get enough from the quarterback position to identify potential long-term support pieces for their next young quarterback."
Moton is correct that Smith is a temporary solution for the Jets at quarterback. With three 2027 first-round picks at his disposal, Darren Mougey may already be eyeing prospects like Arch Manning and Dante Moore. Moton goes on to claim the Jets' quarterbacks could derail the entire 2026 season.

It’s rare for a 4th round quarterback to become a longtime starter in the NFL. There have been exceptions (Dak Prescott and Kirk Cousins comes to mind) but each has been shadowed by a who’s who of “who’s that” (hello Kyle Lauletta). However, when former a Clemson star Cade Klubnik was selected isn’t the most despairing aspect of his projection, it’s where he was selected.
The New York Jets are where Quarterbacks go to rot. Their last iconic signal caller came by the likes of Joe Namath, who was drafted as recently as the signing of the Civil Rights Act (1964). Their second greatest is arguably Ken O’Brien, who led them to exactly one playoff win in nine years. The greatest of this century is likely Chad Pennington, who was able to win two playoff games in his eight seasons.
However, if there is any benefit to Cade landing in New York, it’s the lack of competition on that football team. Sitting behind a 35 year old Geno Smith, Klubnik is highly likely to see the field early on in his career. Additionally, the Jets have a multitude of interesting pieces on their roster. Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson are proven stars simply looking for a competent signal caller to distribute them the ball. AD Michell is an exciting young prospect with shades of George Pickens (complimentary and derogatory). Rookie Omar Cooper just won a National Championship with Indiana, and Kenyon Sadiq is a tight end with Julio Jones’ height and 40 time and Anthony Edwards’ vertical leap.
The Jets also project a strong offensive line, with no clear holes at any of the five positions. They do set up a young quarterback to succeed, just haven’t been able to find that passer.
In a perfect world, Cade plays a Point Guard-esque role for a team full of talented skill players. Think Memphis Grizzlies Tyus Jones or Phoenix Suns Ricky Rubio; a player that isn’t necessarily taking over games and creating big plays out of nothing, but can distribute in a way that gives his teammates the opportunity to do what they do best while limiting turnovers.

With the New York Jets wrapping up 2026 NFL minicamp, the team is in a quiet period until next month. In the later stages of July, training camp will begin and the full journey to next season begins.
More moves and transactions can come from the team in that time, but most of the heavy lifting is done. So with spring practices behind us, why not take a look ahead?
With that, here is Jets Wire's post-minicamp 53-man roster projection
Geno Smith, Cade Klubnik, Bailey Zappe
There is a battle for QB2, but Smith in locked in as the starter.

Brendan Sorsby's future is now in the hands of the NFL franchises, as he decided to drop his case for eligibility against the NCAA last week. Instead of trying to overcome his lifetime ban from college athletics, the signal-caller will now enter the NFL supplemental draft.
Whether or not he will attract the interest of any NFL teams remains to be seen. However, according to insider Rich Cimini, at least one team isn't at all interested in his services. Even while the New York Jets (worth $8.1 billion, according to Forbes) are looking for a new starting quarterback, they aren't interested in recruiting Sorsby due to his betting scandal.
"They don't want to deal to deal with it," said ESPN's Rich Cimini via NFLSleeper.
The Jets did select one quarterback during the 2026 NFL draft, as they took Clemson's Cade Klubnik in the fourth round with the 110th overall pick.
Unlike the Jets, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, and Cleveland Browns are reportedly interested in getting Sorsby.

The New York Jets aren't taking any chances with quarterback Cade Klubnik.
As the team's 2026 NFL minicamp continued this week, the rookie once again found himself watching portions of practice rather than participating in them. Head coach Aaron Glenn provided an update.
Per Coach Glenn, the Jets are exercising the precautionary approach. He named Klubnik as the only Jet who wouldn't participate in practice on Wednesday.
Aaron Glenn says the only player who won't practice today - but will be available later in minicamp - is rookie QB Cade Klubnik, who sat out last week with back spasms. Glenn says it's precautionary, no need to rush him onto the field right now. #Jets
— Dennis Waszak Jr. (DWAZ73) June 16, 2026

The New York Jets made a surprising selection during the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft when they traded up to select Clemson QB Cade Klubnik.
Most draft ****** ysts didn’t have him with a fourth-round grade, but the Jets chose to be aggressive to avoid another team potentially selecting Klubnik as they view him as an integral part of the team’s future.
Klubnik's stats over his final two seasons at Clemson was polarizing to say the least.
Last year, he threw for just under 3,000 yards and only 16 touchdowns to go along with six interceptions. He did add four touchdowns on the ground, but his stats are a bit misleading.
Not exactly impressive stats to warrant a trade up to select him, especially when the Jets had plenty of areas on the roster that needed to be fixed. Klubnik did deal with injuries for most of last season as well as a weaker team in regards to talent compared to his 2024 season at Clemson.

There's been a significant amount of interest in tracking New York Jets rookie quarterback Cade Klubnik at OTAs.
Understandably so. The fanbase is looking for a young quarterback to attach hope to. Klubnik had impressed in early sessions, but Tuesday's was of the rougher variety.
Klubnik went 2-of-5 during 11-on-11 team drills, according to ESPN. The former Clemson standout overthrew his target on one incompletion and there was an errant throw on another dropback. It's worth noting one of Klubnik's three incompletions was a dropped pass.
Offensive coordinator Frank Reich's 7-on-7 drills reportedly weren't any kinder to Klubik.
The fourth-round quarterback finished 3-of-9. He threw an interception down the sideline to cornerback Tre Brown. The turnover appeared to have rattled Klubnik, who followed his interception with a few more misfires. The Jets' offense reportedly worked on a lot of third-and-long, placing the rookie quarterback at a disadvantage.