30 college football players who could go from unknown to first-round pick in 2024

Every year, multiple players find themselves outside the NFL Draft conversation, but there's a reason they call 2025 mock drafts "way too early." There are dozens of players hoping to immensely raise their draft stock.

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl - Ole Miss v Penn State / Todd Kirkland/GettyImages

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20. Cade Klubnik, QB, Clemson Tigers

We are in this world where Clemson is still getting the love it once did based on its run of National Championships and similar contention, but it’s hard to argue that’s still who they are in 2024. The Tigers and Dabo Swinney seem to have reacted by far the worst to the new age of college football. They refuse to participate in the transfer portal. They rely on recruits, and that fits the narrative as we see where they finish in the standings every year.

Clemson hasn’t finished in the top 10 since Trevor Lawrence was drafted. They’ve struggled with quarterbacks since one of the top recruits ever left for Jacksonville. D.J. Uiagalelei was not the replacement anyone hoped, and now it’s up to Cade Klubnik to take Clemson over the top.

Klubnik was fine last season, but he wasn’t good. He was average as a starting QB, and that’s not good enough at Clemson. This one is ranked here in case Klubnik becomes a star. He could have this meteoric rise to bring a legacy university back from the dead. It also helps since many also hate the new college football model, so if a QB can prove it wrong, they will like him even more.

Klubnik needs to stop throwing interceptions. Full stop. He’s his own worst enemy when it comes to that. If he can fix that, Clemson will be much better, and he’ll be an NFL Draft recruit.

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