When the Ravens signed 2023 UDFA Malik Cunningham off the Patriots’ practice squad in December, it was widely assumed they were doing so with an eye towards installing Cunningham as quarterback Lamar Jackson‘s backup for the upcoming season (and perhaps beyond). However, as Ryan Mink of the Ravens’ official website notes, Cunningham is now listed as a wide receiver on Baltimore’s roster.
The Ravens allowed Jackson’s former backup, Tyler Huntley, to depart in free agency while re-signing 38-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson, which appeared to set the table for a Johnson v. Cunningham battle for the QB2 role. Instead, head coach John Harbaugh anointed Johnson as the second passer on the depth chart earlier this month, and at the time, we heard that Cunningham may transition to wideout.
The transition has been made official, as the Ravens are apparently comfortable with their quarterback situation after selecting Devin Leary in the sixth round of this year’s draft (Leary and UDFA rookie Emory Jones will compete for the QB3 job). Cunningham, whose rawness as a passer is what caused him to go undrafted last spring, is nonetheless a highly-athletic talent for whom the Patriots designed a special package of gadget-type plays when he was on their roster.
While Cunningham only saw action in one game (six snaps) with New England, he will now have a chance to focus exclusively on his craft as a receiver. According to Mink, the Louisville product has shown promise in that role in the early stages of the Ravens’ offseason program.
Baltimore did not make an effort to re-sign Odell Beckham Jr., a key ancillary weapon in last year’s passing attack, and the team also saw Devin Duvernay defect to the Jaguars in free agency. Despite a re-up for Nelson Agholor, those departures left the Ravens a little thin at the WR position, especially given Rashod Bateman‘s history of injury troubles. Like the 2023 edition of Duvernay, free agent acquisition Deonte Harty is likely to see more action as a return specialist than on offense.
The club did add Devontez Walker in the fourth round of April’s draft, and tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely have proven themselves to be terrific pass catchers, but Cunningham still appears to have a decent chance to carve out a spot for himself in the WR room. Behind Zay Flowers, Bateman, and Agholor, the rest of the Ravens’ wideouts are either unproven or ticketed for a third phase role, so if Cunningham continues to perform well as the summer progresses, he and Jackson — who were actually teammates at Louisville in 2017 — could find themselves on the field together when the regular season rolls around.
If Jackson goes down again then the Ravens become the worst team in the North with the unbelievable Josh Johnson getting signed again. I have to give Johnson or his agent credit because it makes no sense that this man gets signed every year
The way the current passer centric model is setup, any team that loses it’s starting QB for any length of time is probably going to see their season circle the drain. The Jets were the primary victim last season but I have no doubt that other teams will experience the same pain.
Good point and Bengals fans, like myself, should agree strongly.
It is crazy that teams with Super Bowl potential still do not take the QB2 position seriously. Everything this team has built for and worked for, all the high quality coaching and personnel decisions, and one injury to Lamar Jackson and your season is worthless.
Any team playing their backup QB will be so far behind playoff teams with a top eight QB that it’s hopeless. Either the starter makes it through the season and to the playoffs, or the season is lost. What a team can hope for from a QB2 is someone who can play a quarter while the starter gets treatment for a bruise, or can take a couple of games mid-season against tier two or tier three teams and split wins and losses.
I agree with you for offensive juggernauts with no defense like the Chiefs, Texans or Lions. But teams who have invested in their defense and have defense as a critical part of their success much like the Ravens, 49ers and Jets last year, the gap is not as wide as you stated. A competent backup who can avoid turning the ball over can still be a successful playoff caliber team.
nick foles. flacco. even brady was some drudes backup once upon a time.
For most teams if the QB1 goes down then so does the Super Bowl aspirations. You can make that argument for the ravens too, although their defense can dominate games like few others (we’ll see how it goes this year with a new DC)
Ravens D will still be very good, particularly the secondary, but I think losing Patrick Queen and Jadeveon Clowney will be a bigger loss than most fans think for the front seven. I liked the Nate Wiggins pick to play opposite Humphrey at corner but I don’t expect them to generate as much pressure on opposing qb’s as they have in years past. They still look really strong against the run though which is necessary in the AFC North.
Ravens should sign tannehill
Maybe he’ll be another Jakobi Meyers then who’s made a huge switch from QB to WR and is a solid WR in the league
Henry could fill in if the Ravens need an emergency QB option. He’s thrown 4 TDs on 9 career pass attempts and has a 123.4 QB rating.
Ravens have iffy #2 QB n their starter is a running QB. U’d like ur back-up to be able to take the reigns for cpl weeks in lieu of Jackson if he misses time due to injury. Tread water until the starter is hopefully healthy. W/Cunningham out there @WR, if he makes team, n your DC playing against Ravens gota prepare for end around w/pass from Malik. No surprises, stay in coverage n know it’s coming.
Not to mention, as lemon stated, the possibility of a Henry trick play…
I get the general sentiment about having a solid #2 behind Lamar from everyone posting but it’s not like Malik Cunningham was the answer to that problem in the first place. Just saying.
The prequel to S Sanders going from QB to other position.
After what happened a few years ago to the Broncos, it’s never a bad idea to have someone on your roster or PS who used to be a QB.
Let’s face it…QB play in the NFL ain’t what she used to be. It’s been going downhill, overall with a few exceptions, for the last couple of decades. The days of seeing a future version of Montana, Marino, Manning or Brady dominating the game are sadly over.
Yeah, you can name a few quality players like those legends in today’s NFL…Mahomes obviously, Stafford, Burrows (maybe?), Jackson (?). I’m not a fan of Jackson’s style though, because to me, he’s still a run-first QB…and that won’t last for long as he gets older. (and frequently injured from taking big hits) The college game just doesn’t produce too many classic pocket passers with a good head on their shoulders anymore. But that’s just my 2¢