30 greatest NFL QBs of all time: Where does Patrick Mahomes rank now?
By Nick Villano
Speaking of a player ahead of his time, Randall Cunningham was fantastic at many aspects of the game that are priorities in 2023. He could scramble to extend plays on a team that never could block for him. He could also put some serious air under the ball.
Cunningham was immediately impactful when he took over the starting role in Philadelphia. He made the Pro Bowl three years in a row from 1988 to 1990 and was second in MVP voting twice in that span. This is someone who made something out of nothing on almost every play. Six times with the Eagles, Cunningham led the league (or was at the bottom of the league, depending on how you look at it) in sack yards.
Cunningham was the first quarterback to even approach 1,000 yards rushing. In 1990, he had 942 yards rushing, a record that stood until Michael Vick broke it more than a decade later. His ridiculous eight yards per carry that year still stands as one of the best averages of all time. Imagine running the ball more than 100 times and still averaging eight yards each time. He was a first-down machine.
There was a second era to Cunningham’s career when the Minnesota Vikings talked him out of retirement. He was able to guide them to a playoff win in his first season in purple. His second season was one of his best, leading the Vikings to a 15-1 record while coming in second for MVP again (always a bridesmaid, as they say). He led the league in passer rating in what would be his last full season in the league.