Zappe already is a second stringer, already has been a second stringer. Grier has been third string his whole career, often behind very unimpressive second stringers. I mean, we plucked him off Cincinnati’s practice squad; their backup QB is Jake Browning.
I could type this almost word for word and just swap Zappe for Grier. Just Grier is so bad that Zappe is likely the better option. They're both likely gone at the end of the year.
I'm sure he's thrilled to get out of here and over there in that ideal situation.
It seems everyone knows BB is out the door.
I’m sure he’ll be plenty passable is practice and never see a meaningful down.
I don’t know. I was looking at it more like Lamar gets hurt a lot and the Ravens are still looking for a backup that can run the same game plan. Who better than the guy who did it in college. Seemed like a no-brainer UDFA pickup for Baltimore and I’m honestly not sure why it took this long. You could be right, though.
Probably the other 2 QBs on the roster that have a similar skill set and actually have NFL experience. I’m skeptical he’s better than Tyler Huntley or Josh Johnson.
Josh Johnson is 104 years old, but yeah Huntley is pretty clearly a much better QB than Cunningham right now and likely going forward
I meant it more in the way that he's not likely to be on the team next year, so getting a look at Cunningham to be the 3rd QB next year makes some sense
That's Pro Bowl QB Tyler Huntley, and don't forget it.
I didn't see the Chargers game. Was he the third QB? If so, he could only play if Mac and Zappe both got hurt/ejected.
I don't know about the QB shenanigans, but Malik was 100% on the active roster for that game. To my recollection. lol.
Oh. In that case, if he's worthy enough of being activated I'm not sure why they wouldn't have used him for a play or two.
Of all the sins by BB and this coaching staff this season, not playing Malik Cunningham is far, far, far, far down the list , if it's on the list at all.
I hate to break it to you, but this team is 4-12. Many sins were committed this season. I don't particularly care about Malik, but putting him on the active roster while the team struggled to score a single point and he rotted on the bench sends the message that they are just throwing darts and not trying to win games.
I'm well aware of their record. My point is, Malik Cunningham clearly sucks. He's not a good enough QB, and he doesn't do anything else well, and if he was that great of an athlete another team would find a role for him. He would be the exact thing you're complaining about if they played him, another dart the team is throwing because they don't have answers. This idea that there's some magic offensive package or play set they could run with him that would make the offense functional is just wishcasting. It's not tethered to reality at all. The only reason why you think he would make a difference is because you haven't seen him play in a real game.
Malik for years will be a wonderful test case, you drop him into a thread then see who complains we didn't give him a chance, then you mute those people.
Kind of a prick response. Bait people into bringing up one of the many mistakes this year and ignore the ones that think this has relevance. Fun game I guess.
Maybe. But read this thread, and what I was responding to, which was someone claiming the coaches quit on the team by not playing a guy who nobody in the league thought (and likely nobody still does) had a future in the NFL at QB. If 2 years from now (which was what my post was about) someone is complaining about Malik it will be evidence that they are not a serious person. If people want to discuss Malik... sure, but nobody really is, they are just doing the absolute lowest value WEEI "OMG why didn't they play the practice squad scrub... I thought he looked good in 5 snaps in the preseason against guys who are selling insurance now!"
My main beef in this thread is that people are talking about this guy as if he has elite traits and someone just needs to give him a chance to show them off. He's 6'0, 190 pounds, and runs a 4.55 40 (I know, it's not end all be all for speed, but it says something). He's slow for his size in the NFL. This isn't Lamar Jackson running in the 4.3s as a 6'3, 210 pound player. He's a below average athlete at every position except QB, and he's well-undersized for that job.
Unless he becomes a useful player. Odds are he doesn't but your assumption is not yet fact so stop referring to the future as if you already know how this plays out.
Enough of this. Players and coaches have come out and said that they thought he deserved a look in a lost season. If you watched Mac Jones do whatever the hell he was doing this year, it is not irrational to have wanted to see what the other options on the roster look like. Malik is a NFL player who has played the QB position at the college level. Yes, I and others wanted to see what anyone else with that ability could on on the field for the Patriots this year. It's fairly obvious with all the info we have that even internally views differed on his ability and the no's won.
The only reason we're still discussing him is because he's an unknown. The last narrative is something that was made up by the over zealous on here. Nothing was said in favor of that perception. You have designed QB runs with Malik, little to none without. This isn't that difficult.
Have you watched video of him playing QB? Or are you basing your argument solely off of his measureables? Hes Dorian Thompson-Robinson. His tape isn't great. His arm is Mac-ian. He has good vision and is pretty slippery with the ball in his hands. Totally understand why they thought WR. The QB you described that cant throw or run we saw plenty of this season.
it’s not that he was undrafted on its own. It’s that he was undrafted and hasn’t shown anything and doesn’t have traits that would make you think he’ll go on to do anything.
Probably also worth noting, he was undrafted and nobody was even willing to give him a PS spot for much of the year as a QB. The Patriots told him they saw him as a WR, and he signed here because nobody else in the league wanted him as a QB either. That's very different from players who get signed post-draft. It's much more like wondering why Edelman never got any run as a QB.
He's fourth on the depth chart, so DeCosta probably sees less than what BB sees in Nathan Rourke. The guy is flotsam on the end of the roster.
I share with you the belief that losing Cunningham is irrelevant to the present and future of the team. Because it is. It has no bearing at all. You still didn’t answer the question and are now agreeing to disagree on a point I never made. It isn’t a positive or a negative that he’s on the Ravens. It just is. The fact he’s on their roster with nothing to go off of since being in the NFL directly negates your previous argument that no other team wanted him because he went undrafted or unsigned. It’s a tired, unbelievably flawed perception that I’m hoping stops getting used around here. Not just for Malik mind you. For all players. It’s being used in the Zappe thread too and it falls flat ever time. It’s assuming the other 31 GMs are only interested in the players on their roster AND they never make mistakes.
the why now is likely that they had a roster spot with their top 52 set. Late in the year teams often have their depth charts pretty set if they are healthy, and use the last spot or two to check out a guy for the future. They didn't see enough in Cunningham coming out of school to make him their 3rd QB even with his relationship with Lamar. Now late in the year, they'll take a look at him to see if next year he might be an option for 3rd QB/ emergency. They have no intention of playing him (though he might be either inactive 3rd or maybe even active week 18 if they sit a bunch of guys including Lamar.
