Louisville football: 5 players who could be drafted in 2021 NFL Draft

Micale Cunningham – QB

Redshirt junior

Let me start by saying this. If Micale Cunningham were to leave Louisville after the completion of the 2020 season as a redshirt junior, it likely means that he’s had an All-ACC type of performance and has truly taken the next step into becoming a professional quarterback.

Cunningham came into Louisville as a raw, run-fast quarterback who hoped to follow in the footsteps of Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson when it came to developing into a complete player. As a redshirt freshman, Cunningham was thrown into a nearly impossible situation where he was tasked with stepping in for then starting quarterback Jawon Pass on multiple occasions. As you might imagine, the redshirt freshman struggled (although he showed major potential as a playmaker) and it looked like his development may not go the way we hoped.

Then Frank Ponce and Scott Satterfield happened. The two came into the program and changed everything for Cunningham, helping him to take a major step in becoming an elite ACC quarterback. After starting the season with an injury, Cunningham stepped in relief for Jawon Pass (who was injured himself) and never looked back.

Cunningham was one of the biggest revelations in the entire country at quarterback, surprising not only Louisville fans but everyone across the ACC with his ability to throw incredibly accurate deep balls. After completing just 59 percent of his passes as a freshman, Cunningham saw that number jump to nearly 64 percent while finishing as one of the nation’s most efficient players (although he missed qualifying for QBR by one pass attempt).

As a redshirt junior, Cunningham’s expectations are through the roof as some have pegged him as one of the players to watch across the country in part to his offense’s ability to move the ball down the field through the air.

As Nick Coffey pointed out, Cunningham was one of five college quarterbacks in the last decade to throw for 20-plus touchdowns, five or fewer interceptions, and average 10 yards or more per pass, joining Bryce Petty (Baylor), Marcus Mariota (Oregon), Russell Wilson (Wisconsin/NC State), and Tua Tagovaiola (Alabama).

In the last decade, Cunningham is one of five college quarterbacks to throw for 20+ passing touchdowns, have five or fewer interceptions and average at least ten yards per pass. The other four are Bryce Petty, Marcus Mariota, Russell Wilson and Tua Tagovailoa.

There’s a lot of improvement that will need to take place for Cunningham to become an NFL quarterback, but if we see a similar leap from year two to three as we did from one to two – watch out.

Cunningham is an elite athlete who would bring similar traits to an NFL offense as Lamar Jackson. as a two-way threat. While he still has a far way to go reading defenses, hitting short and intermediate passes, and dealing with pressure, Cunningham showed his ability to take care of the football, only throwing five interceptions while producing big plays at a high level (led the nation in completions of 70, 80, and 90 yards).

That’s not it. Cunningham also thrived with passer efficiency, pocket-passing, and a ton of other metrics that college football and draft analysts use to determine projections and rankings at the next level. Mix that all together with the elite athleticism and running ability of Cunningham and we could be talking about the making of a special quarterback at the next level.

Quarterbacks with big arms and eye-popping completion stats like Micale Cunningham are not necessarily a rare find, but when you look all of it combined and consider where he was just a year ago you can see the potential for another giant step and becoming a legit NFL prospect.

However, there are concerns that could easily push Cunningham back to school for another season. Two seasons as a high-level starter typically brings up questions about experience and the ability to learn a highly complex NFL offense

The other is the types of passes Cunningham has mostly thrown during his time at Louisville. While Cunningham played in a somewhat “pro-style” offense in his only season under Bobby Petrino, in the Satterfield offense he’s not necessarily been asked to play under center and deploy your traditional three, five, and seven-step drops. There also weren’t a ton of “NFL” throws required of Cunningham in his first year under Coach Satterfield. While offenses in the NFL are moving to more pistol and offset formations to mimic what the Ravens are doing with Lamar Jackson, having the ability to play under center and make throws from the pocket are crucial.

This season I’ll be watching to see how Cunningham improves on his ability to move the ball over the middle of the field on short and intermediate throws in passing situations as well as on crucial downs/plays. Last season there were too many times were a pass came up short or was overthrown where if it would’ve been on the numbers or out in front of the receiver could’ve led to a touchdown.

Cunningham should be in line for another big season in 2020, maybe even developing into a darkhorse Heisman Candidate. And if he does so the way we expect, we could be talking about an attractive developmental quarterback in the middle of the draft.