Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham is entering the 2023 NFL Draft, he announced Friday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Cunningham is skipping the Cardinals’ Fenway Bowl game against Cincinnati.
- He’s Louisville’s second player to enter the 2023 draft after running back Tiyon Evans.
- The 6-foot-1 Cunningham is the Cardinals’ all-time total touchdowns leader with 120.
Backstory
Cunningham racked up 1,568 yards on 62.4 percent passing this season, adding 560 yards on the ground. He had 12,839 total yards in his college career, ranking second to future NFL MVP Lamar Jackson in his time at Louisville. The pair shares the school record of 50 rushing touchdowns.
Former Louisville coach Scott Satterfield was hired by Cincinnati earlier this month. The Cardinals are bringing in Purdue coach Jeff Brohm as Satterfield’s replacement.
Was this expected?
Cunningham opting out of the Fenway Bowl is really not a surprise after his standout career at Louisville. The game, pitting 7-5 Louisville against 9-3 Cincinnati, does mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things other than rekindling an old rivalry. After all, both teams will be coached by interim coaches after Luke Fickell left Cincinnati for Wisconsin and Satterfield left Louisville for… Cincinnati.
So it makes sense for Cunningham to start his NFL Draft preparations and get ready for the next step of his career. — Shirley
Cunningham’s legacy at Louisville
Cunningham’s career will go down right alongside Jackson’s at Louisville, outside of Jackson’s Heisman Trophy. Cunningham played in 56 games in his career and passed for 9,660 yards and 70 touchdowns. He threw for more than 2,000 yards in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and had his most prolific season in 2021 with 2,941 yards passing.
This season, Cunningham was banged up at times and played in 10 games, passing for 1,568 yards. — Shirley
What Cunningham said
I Will Always Call This Place Home🫶🏿😔 pic.twitter.com/uzOwSWl4k3
— Malik Cunningham (@MalikMalikc10) December 9, 2022
Required reading
(Photo: Jamie Rhodes / USA Today)
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