ALLEN PARK -- Ohio State cornerback Jeff Okudah might be the trendiest pick for the Lions at third overall. ESPN’s Mel Kiper made the match too in his first mock draft.

But he just dropped 2.0, and it has the Lions going in another direction. A very, very different direction.

Yup, Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

“The Lions say they’re not shopping quarterback Matthew Stafford, but there is some buzz that they like Tagovailoa, who might not work out for teams before April’s draft because of his hip injury,” Kiper wrote. "Is that just a smoke screen? We’re still two months away from the draft, of course. Stafford’s contract is extremely tough to trade in 2020 -- the team could have up to a $32 million dead-cap hit -- but what if Detroit likes Tagovailoa so much that it keeps Stafford on the roster for another year?

“This pick also seems like the perfect spot for a team to trade up to get a quarterback, whether that’s Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or someone else. Could the Chargers or Raiders or Jaguars move up to jump the Dolphins at No. 5 and get their guy? Everything is in play here, and since I’m not going to project trades, I’ll stick with Tagovailoa at No. 3.”

The Tua debate has been raging in Detroit for weeks, with two distinct camps emerging.

Related: Why the Lions probably won’t draft Tua Tagovailoa

Some look at Matthew Stafford’s big half-season under Darrell Bevell -- he ranked among the top-six quarterbacks in all the major passing statistics, led the league in passing yards per game, had his best ever passer rating and was piloting a top-five offense overall -- and say there’s no reason to waste a top-three pick on replacing Detroit’s best player from a year ago. Stafford’s also still just 32 years old and under contract for three more years (plus a voidable year in 2023).

The pick might be better used on a defensive player who might actually, you know, fix that nearly historically bad defense. Stafford was playing at an elite level, after all, and the Lions were still losing more often than they won.

“If I’m Detroit, and with what I know is in this draft a little bit, I don’t think I go quarterback there,” Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner said. “As long as I know that what Matthew’s dealing with last year, it’s not something that’s going to be persistent moving forward, I stay and build around Matthew because you’re not going to find many players as talented as he is.”

Then again, there is that back injury. Stafford missed the final eight games because of it last season, was limited by another back injury for a Week 4 game against Kansas City -- one of his best games of the year, by the way -- and played through a third back injury in the second half of the 2018 season.

Related: Kyle Meinke has the Lions taking Chase Young in his first mock draft

Related: Ben Raven goes with a trade down that nets Detroit two big defenders

Stafford has said he’s not concerned about his long-term health, but there is another camp emerging that says it may be time for the Lions to begin plotting another course at quarterback. It has been 11 years since they took Stafford first overall, and they’ve still won nothing. No division titles, no playoff games, nothing. And now the back is becoming a reoccurring issue.

How much of the blame Stafford shoulders for the lack of team success is a polarizing issue, but no matter how you cut it, the Lions’ current direction just hasn’t worked. And if a talent like Tagovailoa is available to Detroit at third overall, some believe the opportunity is too good to pass up.

That even includes one of Stafford’s old receivers.

“Yeah, he is (on the table)," said Nate Burleson, now an analyst for NFL Network. "The only thing that would scare me from getting a guy like that is the fact he had that hip injury. And I’ve heard reports that he’s going to be back sooner than later, but yeah, I think so. At this point, you have to consider everything.

"Like if they were in the playoffs, then I would say you’re crazy. Don’t mess with a good thing. But if you’re sitting at home watching the playoffs like I am -- as a spectator -- then you have to look at every corner of your roster.”

Among the biggest draws of using the pick on a quarterback is it would lock that player into a cost-controlled contract for at least five years. Stafford is due to count $21.3 million against the cap in 2020, which isn’t bad for a veteran quarterback, although that number explodes to $33 million in 2021.

“(Phil Simms) said there’s going to be a point where teams are going to walk away from handicapping themselves by paying these quarterbacks big money if they’re not getting these teams into the playoffs or to the Super Bowl,” Burleson said. "And I was like, ‘When? When is that going come?’ And he said sooner than later.

“What’s funny is when he said that, the first person that came to my mind was Matt Stafford. Not because I don’t think he’s worth (the money), but I do think there are going to be teams that are going to use the financially responsible approach.”