Remember that time when Pittsburgh Steelers fans wanted them to draft QB Malik Cunningham? Well, he’s already on his second team in two seasons, and quite possibly he may be on his second position. Now a member of the Baltimore Ravens, head coach John Harbaugh acknowledged an openness to moving him to wide receiver.
“That’s a good question. I think it remains to be seen”, he told reporters yesterday when asked about that transition. “We’re going to take a look at him and see how he does and just get to know him better and evaluate him. He’s definitely developmental as a quarterback; he’s developmental as a wide receiver, too. But he’s a good athlete, he’s a good person. He’s a competitive guy, and he wants to do well”.
Cunningham ended up as a third-round pick—in the USFL draft. He went undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft, eventually signing with the New England Patriots. He dressed for two games against the Steelers, the second as a member of the Ravens in the finale.
Indeed, Cunningham played all of four snaps in that game, only the second time he got on the field all season. And when he did, he did so as a wide receiver. Indeed, we talked about how he took some reps at wide receiver in practice before that game.
While the Ravens lost Tyler Huntley as their backup quarterback, they signed Josh Johnson to fill that role. And Lamar Jackson showed in 2023 that he can make it through a whole season without significant injury. Cunningham is currently the only other quarterback on the roster other than those two, however.
At 6-1 and 198 pounds, Cunningham is not your typical quarterback. At Jackson’s alma mater of Louisville, he broke school records with 120 career touchdowns. He threw for 70 and rushed for another 50 over a five-year period. However, he only caught two passes in his entire college career. Cunningham did not play wide receiver during his school, either.
However, plenty of college quarterbacks end up changing position—indeed, many thought Jackson should move to wide receiver when he came out of school. Heath Miller was a quarterback, along with Antwaan Randle El, just to name some former Steelers. Even Hines Ward played quarterback in high school, and a bit in college.
During the 2023 preseason, Cunningham did play more at wide receiver than quarterback for the Patriots. He caught one pass on four targets for minus-one yard and one drop. Perhaps he’ll fit right in with the Ravens’ receiving corps.
Baltimore hopes to have finally hit in the first round with last year’s pick, Zay Flowers. Flowers caught 77 passes for 858 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie. Odell Beckham Jr. is currently a free agent, but they retain another former first-round pick in Rashod Bateman. The only other receivers on the roster are Nelson Agholor and Tylan Wallace, and futures signing Sean Ryan. So they may need Cunningham to play wide receiver after all.
