One thing is clear around camp and what we shared in our GBK's Army Football Preseason Practice Notes/Updates on the 12th Knight premium message board and that is rising sophomore safety Cedrick Cunningham is going to be a good player for Black Knights.

Presently, Cunningham (who now wears No. 22), Cam Jones, Jaylon McClinton and Ryan Velez are all having good camps. The first two are bandits and the second are free safeties.

Cunningham, who came into the program via the prep school, where he weighed in a 185 pounds, but he has bulked up since his arrival back in 2018 and is not tipping the scales at 6-foot-0, 205 pounds

As talented as the product of Cassatt, South Carolina is, he is also a humble young man, as he took time out after Tuesday’s practice session to discuss how camp is unfolding, looking forward to the 2019 season and the camaraderie within the defensive backfield corp.

“Camp has been very fun, very fun experience out here with my brothers, running around having a lot of fun, learning a lot from everyone,” said Cunningham. “It’s just a great time to get out here and get into football mode.”

According to the 2nd year safety, 2018 served as a platform to learn from a veteran crew of players that he believes will allow him to take his game to the next level.

“From those guys I learned a lot of professionalism,” Cunningham explained, who appeared in 12 of Army’s 13 games last season. “I was fortunate to be able to travel with the team. So guys like Jaylon McClinton, Max Regan, James Gibson, Elijah Riley and those guys taught me a lot about how to prepare for games and the professionalism behind football. It’s fun, but there’s also a professional side to it when it comes to getting ready for a college football game on Saturdays.”

Presently he is backing up McClinton and Jones but playing the Nickel. So we asked him what are his expectations relative to getting game reps this season?

“My main goal is to just contribute to the team however Coach Monken, Coach CY and the defensive staff needs me,” he declared. “Whatever I can do to help the team, whether that’s being a starter, being the next guy up ... it doesn’t really matter to me, I just want us to win games.”

“I just want to be a great teammate to my brothers. Whatever that entails for the season, we’ll find out, but that’s my main goal.”

Speaking of brothers, Cunningham indicated that there is a solid bond within the ranks of the defensive backfield crew, which is reflected both on and off the field.

“I’m pretty close with a lot of guys on the team,” he added. “I’m pretty close with the DB room. We just have a lot of fun ... watch movies, listening to music, talk about life .... just normal things like that. I can’t really point out one person in particular, it’s a lot of guys.”

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