Louisville football: 3 not-so-crazy offensive predictions for 2020

Micale Cunningham generates Heisman buzz

Perhaps the trendiest “underrated” story over this offseason is discussions in regards to returning Louisville football quarterback Micale Cunningham.

After a freshman season that was up and down during the final, ugliest chapter of the Bobby Petrino era, Cunningham began to show real progress in year two.

In a season that began with Cunningham making poor decisions and extending plays far too long, with the help of quarterbacks coach Frank Ponce, he started developing into a real threat behind center.

Even after nagging injuries took Cunningham out of multiple games, he continued to battle back and showed consistent improvement game over game. He began demonstrating patience in the pocket, showed improved decision making, and surprised a lot of people with excellent arm strength.

After firmly entrenching himself as the starter heading into 2020, Cunningham has begun to receive a lot of love from data and analytics lovers as national pundits have dissected the previous season.

Cunningham scores high in regard to a number of impressive metrics pertaining to his accuracy and ability to facilitate the big play.

Pro Football Focus’ college division has been high on Cunningham all offseason, showcasing his abilities by peeling back the onion of the 2019 season and looking at the reality of Louisville’s still-flawed offense. The Cardinals still struggled to protect Cunningham last year, and as a result of his nagging injuries and Satterfield’s run-first tendencies, he did not qualify for a number of important metrics.

But when you account for missed playing time and the fact that Cunningham was fighting an uphill battle against Louisville’s inconsistent protection, he stands out as one of the better performers returning from last season.

Peeling back the layers reveals that Cunningham is one of the more accurate quarterbacks returning to the college ranks, and his abilities as a passer went overlooked last season on a Louisville squad that was expected to be terrible in year zero of a rebuild.

The truth is that Cunningham was underutilized in Louisville’s offense last season despite his improving play. For comparison’s sake, he had 90 fewer pass attempts (178) than Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence had completions (268).

Cunningham’s 11.6 yards per attempt and 12.8 adjusted yards per attempt would have led the country in 2019 were he to literally make four more pass attempts.

The leaders in yards per attempt in 2019 were national champions Jalen Hurts (11.3) and Joe Burrow (10.8). That’s pretty good company to keep if you ask me.

Cunningham’s 194.8 passer rating in 2019 would have ranked as the sixth-best ever recorded in a single season (since it’s inception in 1956) had he attempted just four more passes. The leaders ahead of him are Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailola, Kyler Murray, and Baker Mayfield (x2).

When you break down the statistics, it’s no wonder that some are so high on Cunningham, and it should give Louisville football fans hope for the 2020 season.

There are some obstacles that he will have to overcome. We mentioned that Cunningham’s decision-making improved in 2019, but it was by no means perfect. He fumbled the ball eleven times in 2019, and according to Pro Football Focus, he threw eleven turnover-worthy passes during his sophomore year.

Still, there is great hope for Cunningham going forward knowing that he is the guy for the Cardinals. As great as he became as a passer in 2019, he is also still a true duel-threat quarterback.

Cunningham has excellent mobility and escapability, and he showcases the potential to become an elite-level runner with a little more experience.

If Cunningham can get past the injury bug and continue to progress, don’t be surprised to see him in the Heisman race in 2020.