Malik Cunningham hoping for Julian Edelman-esque transition from quarterback to receiver with Patriots

FOXBORO -- At training facilities all around the league, young men who have played wide receiver their entire lives are working and scrapping with all of their might to try to make the NFL. Many of them will come up short in realizing their lifetime dream.

In Foxboro, a young man who's never played the position is trying to earn his spot in the NFL at wide receiver. The odds are squarely against him.

But Malik Cunningham, the former Louisville quarterback who signed with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent, is embracing this challenge as he works toward becoming a professional football player in a role he's never before played.

"No, I've never ran a route ever in my life," Cunningham said on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium on Monday, following the first day of Patriots minicamp. "Yeah, I always had the ball. Now it's kind of different."

While some rookie receivers are focused on learning the playbook and routes, Cunningham first had to get comfortable simply running without the football in his hands. 

"Yeah, the first couple of days, I was like, man. Just trying to get used to it," he said. "But like I said, I'm a team player, and whatever they need me to do, I'm gonna do it. "

Of course, when it comes to college quarterbacks transitioning to receiver in the NFL, there is an elephant in the room by the name of Julian Edelman. That's a name that Cunningham has heard "damn near once a week, at least" since joining the Patriots, and offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien showed some Edelman film to Cunningham during rookie minicamp earlier this spring.

The 24-year-old who rushed for 50 touchdowns and threw 70 touchdowns in college said that the past success of Edelman helped him decide to sign with New England and take on the challenge of changing positions.

"Just seeing the success he had at receiver, it just goes to show that it can be done," Cunningham said. "There was some teams that wanted me to [switch to receiver], but I felt like this was the best position for me to learn on -- on the field but off the field as well. So I'm trying to be a better man and a football player at the same time. Just the culture. And the Julian Edelman stories, the guys who have played quarterback in college and moved out to receiver, seeing those guys do it. And I know -- I'm not [saying] I'm more athletic than those guys, but I'm on the same level. So I feel like I can do it."

The prospects of landing a spot on the 53-man roster remain thin. With JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne and  Tyquan Thornton atop the depth chart, and with three other rookies vying for spots along with Tre Nixon, it's a crowded picture for any rookie receiver to try to make the team. But the NFL is made up of every kind of story imaginable, from first-round picks fizzling out to undrafted rookies becoming stars. The future can't be properly predicted, no, but Cunningham's certainly taking the right approach for the time being.

"It's going good," he said. "There's some days where I'm like, 'Man, I'm overwhelmed.' But just got to take a deep breath, relax, and just like I said, just keep chipping away and trying to get better each and every day."