PFF ranks Clemson with Top 5 QB room in college football

Clemson brings back a No. 1-ranked QB in Cade Klubnik and brings back a backup in Christopher Vizzina with another season under his belt.

Brandon Rink · Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer · 19 hours ago

Pro Football Focus ranked the Top 10 QB situations in college football this week, slotting its No. 1 QB in its No. 5 overall QB group.

PFF's Max Chadwick has one more ACC program ahead of Clemson with SMU, at No. 2 overall, which has CFP QB Kevin Jennings back and added former Miami and Wisconsin QB Tyler Van Dyke through the transfer portal.

"Cade Klubnik is my top returning quarterback in college football and was arguably the most improved player in the nation last year," Chadwick said. "He tied for 107th among FBS signal-callers in 2023 with a 63.7 passing grade and improved to fifth this past season with an 87.7 mark. Klubnik’s 80.8 PFF grade under pressure was also more than five points higher than any other quarterback in the country.

"Redshirt sophomore Christopher Vizzina looks like the future of the program and was a top-10 quarterback from the 2023 recruiting class."

Opener foe LSU tops the ranking with Garrett Nussmeier back and Mississippi State transfer Michael Van Buren Jr. also in the mix.

On SMU and LSU: "The Tigers have a top-five quarterback in the country and a legitimate Heisman candidate leading them in Garrett Nussmeier. He threw for the fifth-most passing yards in the nation last year (4,043) while tying for seventh in big-time throws (26)...

"Kevin Jennings is a top-10 quarterback in the nation for me and was one of the biggest surprises last season after entering the year as Preston Stone's backup. He was 10th among FBS quarterbacks in both clean-pocket passing grade (90.6) and overall passing grade (85.0)."

ESPN had a similar QB ranking by teams ranking earlier this week and assessed Clemson and LSU in Tier 1, and SMU in a group with Louisville and Duke in Tier 3, with Georgia Tech slotted in Tier 2.