The NFL Scouting Combine is the middle stop on the postseason road to the draft for college football players, occurring in Indianapolis annually between the Reese’s Senior Bowl and pro days.

Former Park Crossing High School star Malik Cunningham attended the combine with 14 other quarterbacks last week. But he’d already been drafted.

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Not in the NFL. He’s still hoping to hear his name when the league gathers in Kansas City, Missouri, for the 88th NFL Draft on April 27-29.

But in the USFL’s first college draft on Feb. 21, the Birmingham Stallions selected Cunningham with the 22nd choice.

“I have no idea about that,” Cunningham said in Indianapolis last week. “I was actually working out when I seen that. … I don’t know what that was.

“Nah, I’m not playing in that. I’m here for the combine and want to play in the NFL.”

As Louisville’s quarterback, Cunningham piled up 9,660 passing yards, 70 touchdown passes, 3,179 rushing yards and 50 touchdown runs.

“I have a pretty high ceiling,” Cunningham said. “The sky’s the limit. I just keep working and try to better myself each and every day. Don’t worry about the outside, what everybody’s saying.”

Cunningham passed for 2,913 yards and 30 touchdowns and ran for 1,015 yards and 19 touchdowns as an All-State selection in his senior season at Park Crossing in 2016.

He redshirted at Louisville in 2017 while 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson completed his college career with the Cardinals.

The final choice in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Jackson has gone on to win The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award for the 2019 season.

“We talk all the time,” Cunningham said of Jackson. “Just seeing him grow to the player that he is today, I’m happy for him, for sure.”

Cunningham said Jackson’s advice to him as he transitions to the NFL was to “be confident, stick to what you know and don’t let nobody tell you that you’re not a quarterback.”

At the combine on Saturday, Cunningham ran the 40-yard dash in 4.53 seconds, the third-fastest among the quarterbacks.

Cunningham wasn’t the only former Park Crossing standout at this year’s combine, and not even the only one drafted by the Stallions. Birmingham used the 55th pick in the USFL’s college draft on Charlotte wide receiver Grant DuBose.

Two years behind Cunningham in school in Montgomery, DuBose started his college career at Miles in 2019. After the Golden Bears canceled their 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic, DuBose caught on with Charlotte on the advice of former Sidney Lanier quarterback James Foster, who plays for the 49ers.

In two seasons with Charlotte, DuBose caught 126 passes for 1,684 yards and 15 touchdowns.

At the combine on Saturday, DuBose posted the fastest three-cone drill at 6.89 seconds and the fastest shuttle run at 4.32 seconds among the participating players from Alabama high schools and colleges this year. DuBose’s three-cone performance was the eighth-fastest among all players at the 2023 combine.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.