ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

	Chris Livingston/Icon SMI
	Jacksonville has some big shoes to fill now that Marcus Stroud is in Buffalo.

Marcus Stroud was traded to Buffalo on March 1.

But Coach Jack Del Rio scoffed at the idea that his Jacksonville Jaguars spent any part of training camp adjusting to life without the beefy defensive tackle. He appeared in just one of the Jaguars' final eight games last year because of a four-game steroid suspension and a season-ending ankle injury.

"We've been dealing with life after Marcus during the [2007] year because he's been hurt," Del Rio said. "When Rob Meier steps in and plays as well as he has, and we know we have a guy like Tony McDaniel in the wings, and Derek Landri has been as solid as he has, it gives a little more confidence.

"We've got a couple of big defensive ends, namely Paul Spicer, that have shown the ability to go inside. So we don't feel as naked as maybe it's portrayed. Obviously, he was a good football player when he was here and has since moved on. We're going to do well with who we have."

Not everyone is so sure.

One AFC scout said that none of the people replacing Stroud make for the same sort of imposing presence up the middle the Jaguars had when he was paired with John Henderson. In Buffalo they are counting on Stroud to command the sort of double teams that freed up Jacksonville's play-making linebackers.

But some numbers from 2007 suggest Stroud wasn't the sort of game-changer people knew earlier in his career.

According to footballoutsiders.com, for example, the Jags' defense stuffed 19 percent of the runs it faced in the first half of 2007 when Stroud was playing. He missed most of the second half of the season, when that stuff rate shot up to 28 percent. ("Stuff" for their purposes is a run for no gain or a loss on first down or a run for less than a quarter of the yards needed to convert on second or third down).

The Jaguars made improving their pass rush priority No. 1 on defense during the offseason.

Cornerback Drayton Florence is expected to solidify the pass defense and allow more blitzing. It's a style new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, brought in when Mike Smith went to Atlanta, has used with great success in the past.

Derrick Harvey and Quentin Groves were drafted 1-2 to provide a better rush from end, but there is no sign that Harvey's contract impasse is close to an end.

Against the AFC's three best teams last season, the Jaguars were 1-3, managing just four sacks.

Running back Fred Taylor said he looked at Tom Brady during the Jaguars' divisional round loss at New England and felt like the Patriots quarterback was enjoying life "on a yacht back there."

"I think, what I saw and what the whole entire world saw, was that he's just back there," Taylor said. "He had way more than enough time, and no way in hell defensive backs can cover that long. No pressure. I think that's why we got two defensive ends the very first two rounds, there's no secret about it. In order for us to get out of that game and win some of these ball games against the elite teams, even Peyton Manning, we got to rattle them a little bit. When they sit back there, and they can slide around and move around, we're going to be in for a dog fight."

Even if the Jaguars are better off with some combination of Meier, McDaniel or Landri working with Henderson, that doesn't mean they fill the personal void.

Henderson said they've had to.

"I mean, it took some getting used to, but we all have to move on," he said. "I talked to Marcus and he feels the same way. After seven years with a guy, you get used to a guy. That combination was so great. But now we got Tony McDaniel, Rob Meier and we have to bring it on. Just have to get Rob to dance a little more. But I think it's going to be great, man. We have a young guy, we still have Spicer and Reggie [Hayward] on the ends, our vets.

"...It always has to start in the middle. You have to start up front. I'm not going to change anything just because we lost my boy Marcus. We have to keep it going. We still have a lot of enthusiasm, now it just has to come from me, Spice, Mike Peterson, he's our captain on that front line, he's like our quarterback. We just have to go get it."