The only way I can see Cunningham making an immediate impact THIS year is on STs, and as a situational pass rusher. The DE to OLB conversion is NOT a one or even two year process. We won't see the true value of Cunningham until well into his 3rd year. It is what it is. The best we can hope for THIS season is to see the "flashes".
There have been many college DE/pro 34 OLBs who have contributed a lot as rookies.
Its not like he will need to learn an entirely new skillset.
His job, or the job of whoever is the primary OLB is to play the run and rush the passer, about an equal amount of times.
The pass rush skills are not different than what he has done his entire football life, however, he will now be facing tougher competition. Many rookies adapt to that, many dont.
As far as run defense there certainly is change from what he is used to in college, but it isn't rocket science.
I know that the common reposnse will be that he has never covered. OK All of our OLBs COMBINED last season were in coverage 343 times. That amount to about 10 times a game a full time OLB. I don't suppose that a rookie DE-OLB comversion will be as comfortable as a vet, but we are talking about 10 plays a game of covering the flat.
I know it is widely believed that BBs system is so complex that rookies can't be expected to play in it. Here we have abandoned year 2 as well.
I think that most of the reason for this is because BB has done a good job over the years acquiring veterans and keeping them around, especially at the LB position. So there are few early round picks at LB over the BB years, and the ones that were picked were behind great players.
I could be wrong but who are the examples of the guys who sat for 1-2 years playing sts then figured out the system? To me it seems if you are good (Mayo for ex) you get on the field. If you get an opportunity due to lack of players at the position you get on the field (Guyton) if you can't really play (Woods, Alexander) you sit, not because you need years to learn.