After the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks, 30-23, on Sunday, all eyes turned to the Baltimore Ravens with their playoff hopes still alive. The Ravens announced Wednesday that there would be changes at quarterback with potential MVP Lamar Jackson getting a break with the No. 1 seed locked up and Tyler Huntley getting the start.
However, there was another quarterback that Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was asked about, and that was Malik Cunningham. Harbaugh discussed Cunningham’s upcoming role during his Wednesday press conference provided by the Ravens’ YouTube account.
“He’ll be up for the game,” Harbaugh said. “He’ll be active and he’ll be a quarterback in the rotation. He’ll be our third quarterback, but he’ll also be able to play some other positions for us. He’ll be able to play a little bit on special teams, whatever we decide he can do. He’s a little new to that. He’ll be playing wide receiver, which he’s been practicing, here and there. He’ll be a factor.”
As Harbaugh said, Cunningham, a quarterback by trade, has taken some practice reps with the wide receivers. Jamison Hensley, the Ravens reporter for ESPN, captured video of Cunningham working on receiver drills during Wednesday’s practice session.
The Steelers are no stranger to prepping for Cunningham’s athletic ability. Cunningham was signed by the Ravens off the New England Patriots practice squad in December but not before the Steelers had to prepare for him ahead of that disastrous 21-18 loss to the Patriots in Week 14.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had his eye on Cunningham back then, so he is unlikely to be caught off guard by Cunningham’s athletic prowess.
“Malik Cunningham is the guy that creates something that’s a little bit different,” Tomlin said ahead of the Patriots game. “We know his resume at Louisville, so a guy like that with that type of running skills really creates anxiety on a short week. He could show up and do some Wildcat-like things, things of that nature. So, that’s something that’s different that has our attention.”
What will be different is that Tomlin likely viewed prepping for Cunningham as a quarterback. Now Tomlin will have to have his eyes on him all over the field. Cunningham has only appeared in one game this season, a 21-17 Patriots loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in which Cunningham only took six snaps. He did not see any action against the Steelers.
However, when Cunningham played at the University of Louisville, he showed an ability to give defensive coordinators fits as a runner and passer. He threw for 9,664 yards and had a 62.6 percent completion rate on 1,105 attempts and 692 completions with 70 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. He ran the ball 619 times for 3,182 yards (5.1 yards per carry) and 50 touchdowns. He also had two receptions for 42 yards.
Whether or not Cunningham will have the chance to show off his abilities with the ball in his hands on Saturday, the Ravens are certainly looking for ways to get him involved. No one can blame Harbaugh and his staff considering the impact that Cunningham had at the college level.
Just in case you were wondering, Cunningham posted a 4.53 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. And those 120 total career touchdowns at Louisville? That eclipsed the school’s former career leader, Lamar Jackson.
