With the NFL Combine taking place in Indianapolis, speculation about the NFL draft – and specifically the new direction for the Detroit Lions – is beginning to run rampant.

The Lions are getting advice from media folks all over the country. Pete Prisco of CBSSportsline.com says the team should definitely take QB Matt Stafford from Georgia, a move Zoneblitz forcefully argued against several weeks ago.

ESPN believes, as I do, that the team should identify the best left tackle available and take him to start building this team in the trenches.

The Lions? They are being understandably cagey on the topic, discussing with Prisco and other media members how they enjoyed dinner with Stafford while commenting for mlive.com about how they would consider moving Jeff Backus to left guard.

Tom Kowalski brings some interesting points to the table in his Backus article. And he may not be altogether wrong on some levels. Backus most likely would prefer to stay at tackle and there is a chance he would balk at the move. Then again, the Lions went 0-16 with Backus at left tackle this year.

The guy is an eight year vet and it’s understandable that, if the team does go with a tackle in the first round, he might be upset. But this is a team that hasn’t had any measurable success in 50 years. So Martin Meyhew has every right to make whatever move in this situation he thinks can better the organization for the long run.

I’m on the record in a previous post (see link above) as saying Backus might also become trade bait for a team that is going to have to build through the draft. That means taking some of the few productive veterans on the team and moving them for more picks this year and next.

But whether they ultimately decide to keep Backus or move him Meyhew should not base that decision on the opinion of the player. The last Lion with the cachet to deserve that kind of respect was Barry Sanders. Before that? I’m thinking maybe Bobby Layne.