Is Malik Cunningham Lamar Jackson 2.0?

Malik Cunningham’s improvement on game film from 2021 to 2022 is noticeable.

Louisville’s dual-threat quarterback (QB) answered three out of four questions I had for him in my early September article based on his play this season.

Cunningham looks less raw as a passer, he is more decisive throwing, and his head is noticeably moving as he goes through his progressions.

It’s not perfect, but it noticeably better, to compliment what he does best.

Cunningham is an elite runner

Let me say this plainly…

Cunningham is very bit the runner Chicago QB Justin Fields and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson.

This Louisville signal caller is point-blank dangerous.

He’s got sweet ball-handling skills and he can extend plays right up there with anyone we’ve seen in the league.

Cunningham has juice and he is elusive enough to make defenders miss in the open field.

He’s a threat to take it to the house every time he takes off.

What can we learn from the past?

Jackson went to Louisville too and he was last player selected in the first-round in the 2018 NFL Draft.

I feel Cunningham is a very similar prospect to Jackson.

Neither are world beaters as passers, but both are phenomenal runners who can create and extend plays.

How has Jackson’s brand of football fared in Baltimore?

He has ranked between No. 18 – No. 25 passing over the past four seasons leading the Ravens in passing and as the team’s leading rusher.

Jackson has elite company, winning 70% of his games as a starter (47-20). Baltimore went to the playoffs his first three seasons, before having a down year in 2021 (8-9). This season, the Ravens have bounced back to 6-3.

What does this mean?

It sets the argument Cunningham can follow in Jackson’s footsteps – – and it means this kind of football wins in the NFL.

How do their college numbers stack up?

Lets compare Jackson to Cunningham at Louisville to drill down even further into this analysis.

The fact that Cunningham is in his fifth season in college, and Jackson played three years at Louisville slightly skews the numbers.

However, I want to focus on three telling statistics (sports-reference.com).

Cunningham has completed 62.5% of his passes vs. 57.0% for Jackson.

Cunningham has put up an 8.8 yard-per-completion average vs. 8.3 for Jackson.

The overall QB rating is most telling. Cunningham 152.7 vs. 142.9 for Jackson.

Cunningham is dynamic

My NFL mentor, a man with four Super Bowl rings told me to stick with the dynamic ones, and that’s what I am going to do.

I am going to trust my gut on this one.

Bottom line – – Cunningham has a dynamic superstar look and feel to him.

He has star quality.

The NFL world went nuts for North Dakota State QB Trey Lance and San Francisco selected him No. 2 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Cunningham makes Lance look like he came out of a gumball machine.

#3 Malik Cunningham 6-foot-1, 190 pounds

Daniel Kelly’s Grade: First-Round – Fall 2022 Report

First Round Mock Big Board: TBD

Projected by 0.8% of the NFL Draft Community to be a first-round pick as of November 9, 2022 (nflmockdraftdatabase.com)

2022 game film reviewed: FSU, Syracuse and Wake Forest (click to watch games viewed to form this evaluation)

Level of competition: High

2022 stats (to date): 123/199 (61.8%), 1,477 yards (7.4 avg.), 8 TD, 4 INT.

Can an NFL team win with him? Yes

NFL comparable: Lamar Jackson

2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report:

Electric dual threat with good arm and decent downfield ball placement who doesn’t make many risky throws. Passer first and a runner second. Operates out of shotgun. Leads a fluid wide open feeling offensive attack that featured some trick plays. Excellent ball handling and play-action skills. Phenomenal athletic ability to slide around. Can avoid the rush while maintaining downfield focus very well. Inconsistent going through progressions, but has shown improvement. Spreads the ball around all over the field with touch and can fit it in there too. Has good instincts for the passing game. Often only puts it where receivers have a chance. Threw three bad passes in these three games. Worked the short to intermediate route levels best. Inaccurate deep with tendency to under-throw. Can take off on designed runs and out of necessity. An elusive and dangerous gamebreaking runner. Difference maker.

Bottomline:

As a former NFL Scout, I really like Cunningham. I like him so much I’ll be getting his jersey when he is drafted.

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He currently writes for Sports Illustrated New York Jets and he is the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. He can be followed on Twitter @firstroundmock.