ESPN analyst says Clemson has to make QB change, program at "little of a crossroads"

ESPN's Dan Orlovsky says the program is at "a little of a crossroads" offensively with the QB call.

by TigerNet Staff - Mon Nov 07 19:24:50 GMT-04:00 2022

ESPN's Dan Orlovsky has seen enough from the Clemson offense.

He says Dabo Swinney needs to go with the 5-star freshman Cade Klubnik over fellow former 5-star and second-year starter DJ Uiagalelei going forward.

"I think the reality is this, Dabo's great skill and trait is his loyalty," Orlovsky said. "And his undying belief in his players. He's got to make the move at quarterback. And the weird thing is Dabo did it years ago with Kelly Bryant and Trevor Lawrence. Kelly Bryant is good but Trevor Lawrence is better. They've got a true freshman Cade Klubnik who's a superstar talent.

"We've seen the offense under DJ Uiagalelei for the better part of a year and a half -- almost two years. It's not good anymore."

Uiagalelei was benched after a third turnover in the 27-21 comeback win over Syracuse, where Klubnik quarterbacked three scoring drives in four tries, and with the Tigers scoreless through nearly three complete quarters at Notre Dame Saturday, Klubnik was brought in again but a second-and-last snap resulted in an interception.

After being among the nation's leaders toward midseason in Pro Football Focus' passer grade, Uiagalelei's slipped to fifth in the ACC there and in overall grade.

Klubnik has logged only 64 snaps over six games with nine completions in 20 throws for 85 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and also 25 rushing yards.

He was the top-rated QB by multiple outlets out of high school after he played on three state championship teams at Westlake in Austin, Texas.

Uiagalelei is still among the nation's leaders in touchdown passes (18) with five interceptions now to go with a 64.8 completion rate and 1,994 passing yards this season. He has started each game since the beginning of the 2021 season.

Orlovsky says the QB decision could be a measure of the program going forward.

"Clemson's done, out of the Playoff, and I think they're a little of a crossroads program-wise," he said. "At some point, they've got to kick-start their program because it doesn't look like it did three or four years ago."

See more of the segment below:

.@danorlovsky7 is calling for a QB change at Clemson.

"We've seen this offense under DJ Uiagalelei for the better part of a year and half, almost two years. It's not good anymore." pic.twitter.com/gqZ2UnSr0P
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) November 7, 2022