Former Chief Scott Fujita Not a Gunther Cunningham Fan

And just to illustrate, here’s a clip from an interview with Cunningham in Detroit explaining why Sammie Hill (21 tackles, no sacks) was a better draft pick for the Lions than Rey Maualuga

Several draft experts believed the Lions should have taken USC linebacker Rey Maualuga in the second round. Instead, Maualuga went to the Cincinnati Bengals with the 38th overall pick, while Levy went to Detroit with the 76th overall choice.

Maualuga and Levy were on the same field last week when the Bengals beat the Lions 23-13 in Cincinnati.

“I watched Rey Maualuga in this last game and he’s a good player, but when it comes to third down, he’s off the field. Our guy doesn’t come off the field,” Cunningham said. "You can say
that Cincinnati’s winning and I’m going to say ’We’ll see down the road who was right.’

“I’m not being disrespectful to Rey, I think he’s a heckuva football player. But I think if you draft a guy (high), that guy shouldn’t come off the field — ever. He should be good enough to be able to play all three downs, and Levy can do that.”

In the fourth round, the Lions drafted Sammie Hill, a defensive tackle out of Stillman College in Alabama. Hill had a slow start to the season, then missed three games with a serious ankle injury. Since returning, he’s continued to improve his production — until the recent game in Cincinnati.

“He dropped off. He didn’t play as well as he had in previous games,” Cunningham said. “He won’t tell anybody, but I still see him limping from that ankle that he had. He never complains, he comes to practice every day and he’s given us some good games. He’s got a good future in this game and I’m glad he’s here.”

When asked if Hill, who has only 21 tackles and no sacks in nine games, can be a starter for Detroit next season, Cunningham got a little testy.

“Those people who don’t know their (butt) from first base about football, I’d like to talk to them one-on-one. To understand what Sammie Hill gives us, you have to study the tape,” Cunningham said. "Sammie Hill is a mountain of a man who came out of a small college and had a linebacker coach coaching him as a defensive lineman.

“One night we were talking and he said, ‘Coach, how good do you think I would’ve been if I had gone to Auburn?’ I said, Well, you and I wouldn’t be talking if you went to Auburn because he would’ve been a much higher draft choice and we couldn’t have got you.”

Which just highlights why Cincinnati won their division this year with a very good defense and the Detroit Lions again fielded the worst defense in the NFL…because their DC can’t judge talent even when it’s performing on a field directly in front of him. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Rey Maualuga will develop into a mainstay in Cincinnati (if he can stay out of trouble off-field after his latest incident) and that Sammie White will probably never develop into a legit starter.