FanHouse JeffBackus

Jeff Backus was the first draft pick of the Matt Millen era in Detroit, and he has started every game at left tackle for the Lions since then. So it's appropriate that as the Lions prepare to move on from the Millen disaster, they may be moving on from Backus.

For now, Lions coach Jim Schwartz is saying he likes Backus and plans to keep him in place. But as it becomes apparent that the Lions are looking at left tackles with the first pick in the draft, Schwartz is leaving room for the possibility that Backus could get moved to guard.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: Jon Kitna -- man of God, man of many passing yards, man of many lapses in judgement. With Kitna, Mike Martz found a quarterback who could air it out appropriately in his offense. Appropriately, in this instance, means bombing away with little regard to risk, and the interception and sack totals with Kitna under center reflect that. Martz is gone and the Lions are shifting to a more conservative offense. Kitna isn't the right man to helm it, and, turning 36 early this season, should be on his last tour in Detroit. The problem is that the Lions aren't sure if they have anyone behind him to take over, with Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton possessing exactly zero starts and only 17 passing attempts between them, all Orlovsky's. Heat Index: 5

Running back: That conservative offense will put more work at the feet of the team's tailbacks. The Lions' running game in 2007 was 31st in the league and lost their best runner in Kevin Jones. Still, they're going about improving in the right way. They kept Tatum Bell and Brian Calhoun from last year and tailored their attack to a one-cut zone blocking system that suits their skills. Bell had almost 2,000 yards and 10 touchdowns running in that system in 2005 and 2006. Assuming he stays healthy, he should bring a big-play punch. But the biggest impact will be made by the biggest unknown -- rookie Kevin Smith. He also excels in a zone system, and the wildly productive college back is one of the players I think is going to absolutely turn heads this year. Heat Index: 7

Of course, the premise in the above headline is ridiculous -- Matt Millen certainly isn't getting unfair treatment from Lions fans and, if it's even possible, should probably get worse.

But Drew Sharp finally puts down his pitchfork to play devil's advocate -- maybe all the Lions' first-round blunders aren't his fault?

Only once has the team's early selections exemplified the kind of mouth-frothing football Millen identified with as a player. And that was his first draft in 2001, when he focused exclusively on the interior line ....

Joey Harrington was ownership's pick. Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Mike Williams in successive years were Steve Mariucci's brainstorm. Ernie Sims was Rod Marinelli's idea. Calvin Johnson was Mike Martz's obsession.

Of course, Millen can still be blamed for hiring these poor drafters and signing off on the picks (except Sims, who so far looks great), but the point remains -- these were not Millen's choices. And two of the top three players in the '01 crop he picked -- Jeff Backus and Shaun Rogers -- turned out to be significantly less than anticipated themselves.

I don't agree that Millen has to take the reins this year; he should finally make this Marinelli's team. And I don't agree that the Lions "must" pick a rookie Pro Bowler this year; that's just setting an unrealistic goal. All the Lions have to do is resist the temptation to take a running back and address one of the lines. They'll get a good, impactful, immediate contributor if they do, and Ray Rice will still be there in the second.

NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

1. Offensive Tackle. A disaster zone. Forget the 54 sacks Jon Kitna took last year. As terrible and incriminating as it is, it doesn't even come close to scratching the surface of all the crimes against football the Lions' tackles have committed. Running backs dream of rushing for 2,000 yards; I don't think any offensive line wants 2,000 yards of penalties in a season, but the Lions looked like they were trying hard, particularly the tackles. Jeff Backus was terrible and, when George Foster wasn't riding pine, he was worse. Damien Woody did pretty well stepping in at right tackle towards the end of the year, but he looks likely to sign somewhere else this summer. So that leaves zero NFL-caliber tackles on this squad. As for answers, well, teams don't let starting quality tackles hit free agency, so they're kinda screwed if they want experience. While their 15th pick puts them out of the running for Jake Long, they could decide to go with Ryan Clady or Jeff Otah, the next tier in this class.

Here's a fun little blemish on the Lions' otherwise splendid start to the season -- not only does tackle George Foster share the NFL lead for false starts (with nine), he's second in the league in sacks allowed with 9 3/4. First, naturally, is Lions left tackle Jeff Backus, who has 10 1/2. All told, the Lions offensive line in general has allowed 40 sacks, which is ... you guessed it, most in the NFL.

That's bad enough on its own -- Jon Kitna has been beaten so many times he's not a polytheist. But it's especially bad this Sunday when the Lions play the Giants, who lead the league in dropping the quarterback with 31 sacks (all 31 of them, you might recall, were allowed by Winston Justice).

To throw off the scent, the Lions will need to run the ball -- and better than they did against the Cardinals -- to negate the Giants' pass rush. The problem with that is that the Lions won't be getting a full contribution from ailing feature back/overall-good-player Kevin Jones, forcing them to rely more on T.J. Duckett, and that's rarely a good thing. Which leads me to this: if Tatum Bell's career dies in a forest, does anyone hear it?

To get you ready for week 7, FanHouse is previewing all of this week's games. Here is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Detroit Lions preview.

2007 Records:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 4-2 (t-1st in NFC South)
Detroit Lions: 3-2 (2nd in NFC North)

Last Game:

Bucs 13, Titans 10
Redskins 34, Lions 3

When the Bucs have the ball: Jeff Garcia hasn't thrown an interception this year. But although the Lions rank 29th in overall defense and 31st in points allowed per game, they're second in interceptions. They'll have to work a little harder this week though, because there's been some smack talk coming from Garcia's former employers. Garcia, like Rich Gannon and Brad Johnson before, seems rejuvenated under Jon Gruden. But it's the rest of the backfield that might feast on the Lions' defense this week. The Lions are allowing 115 yards per game on the ground and seven touchdowns with those scores coming in four out of five games. Michael Bennett will probably be eased in slowly as the new Bucs back, so this should be one large game for Earnest Graham.

The Bears' defense is torn to shreds right now. Their starting cornerbacks, Nathan Vasher and Charles Tillman, are probably out for this weekend against the Lions. That's not good news against one of the best passing teams in the league. So the best the Bears could hope for, really, is that Calvin Johnson's bad back kept him out of action.

Yeah ... about that ...

Lions coach Rod Marinelli thinks wide receiver Calvin Johnson will be able to play Sunday against Chicago, but he isn't sure.

"I think Calvin's going to be fine," Marinelli said after practice Thursday. "But I don't want to tell you something, and then it's not true."

Marinelli's good at hedging his bets, but Johnson will play. Which means that a secondary lacking in depth will have to face the full force of the Lions' receiving corps -- all 10 of them. Johnson faced ridiculously high expectations upon being drafted, which tempered when the trend in Punditville became "don't expect too much from Johnson as the Lions' third receiver." But now that he's actually seen the field, Calvin's been pretty damn good, and could be a valuable asset this weekend.

Jeff Backus, he of the ironman streak, practiced with the second team yesterday and Marinelli hopes he'll play, too. Who knows if it's a moot point, but with all the injuries and flux in Chicago, this is a good chance for the Lions to sneak up on the Bears. But to do it, they'll need all of their front-line offense on the field.

I don't think anyone who follows the NFL would associate Jeff Backus with the term "game-breaker," but if he misses his first game since high school this Sunday, it might be a case of him being a "Kitna-breaker."

In tracking his career since he was a two-way player in high school, Backus' unbroken chain of consecutive starts stands at a lofty 186. But alas, that streak is in danger of ending Sunday.

Backus is hurt, and he might not play when the Lions host the Chicago Bears at 1 p.m. at Ford Field.

He said he suffered a strained intercostal muscle in his rib cage as he warmed up before the Lions' 56-21 loss last Sunday in Philadelphia. The intercostal muscles are located between the ribs; they expand and contract the chest to aid breathing.

With Backus in the lineup, albeit playing with pain, the Lions managed only 39 rushing yards and Jon Kitna was sacked nine (!!!!) times. Their offensive line was never considered a strong point on the team, and losing Backus would do considerable damage. Not to mention the Lions are playing the Bears on Sunday -- without Backus, it's quite possible Tommie Harris will actually murder Kitna.

That might not be bad, actually. He and God could spend an eternity together, basking in the divine sunlight. And .... that about does it. I've officially beaten the dead horse that is Jon Kitna/God Humor.

Lions G Damien Woody was recently placed on the injured reserve list, which puts an end to his 2006 season. With the loss of Woody, the Lions will go into their game Sunday against the Bills with only two of their original starting offensive linemen healthy. The Lions also have veteran free acquisitions Guard Ross Verba and Tackle Rex Tucker injured. Both Verba and Tucker aren't expected to return until after the bye week. This rash of injuries directly influenced their loss last Sunday against the Vikings. After Woody and Tackle Jeff Backus missed significant playing time last week, the Lions replacement linemen had difficulty picking up blitzes and communicating their line calls, which ultimately determine their blocking responsibilities. In order for the Lions to have a legitimate chance at obtaining victory this weekend, these communication problems need to be overcome.

If their is an upside to the injuries on the Lions offensive line, it is that the Lions may be able to determine what future value Tackle Jonathan Scott and Guard Frank Davis have to the organization. As difficult as it is to accept, this team is going nowhere this season and the coaching staff's are starting to enter into evaluation mode. Unfortunately for Jon Kitna, he will likely be reduced to running for his life and having to hurry through his reads in order to avoid annihilation. The loss of these linemen will likely stymie some of the rhythm and effectiveness that had begun to develop in recent weeks.

As with all personnel issues, Matt Millen is largely to blame for this predicament. He was active in the off-season in acquiring veteran offensive linemen in hopes of upgrading the performance of the offensive line. Unfortunately, he made a lot of risky decisions by signing players who possesed checkered injury histories. Now the team is suffering as a result of these decisions.