Tom Coughlin goes away from offense with his selection of defensive tackle Marcus Stroud.(AP)

And their offense has never put them in the Super Bowl.

Coach Tom Coughlin is tired of having a defense that plays tissue soft in the middle, tired of having a defense that can't stop the run. The Jaguars have never had that powerful run stuffer in the middle, a player who can hold the point of attack.

They do now.

The Jaguars used the 13th pick in the first round of Saturday's draft to select Georgia defensive tackle Marcus Stroud, a 310-pound run stuffer. Despite a glaring hole on the right side of their offensive line at tackle, and with Florida tackle Kenyatta Walker still on the board, Coughlin opted to help his defense.

"We had a running back (Fred Taylor) with 1,400 yards, two receivers (Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell) with over 90 catches, a quarterback (Mark Brunell) with 3,600 some yards in passing and a tight end (Kyle Brady) who caught 64 balls and we didn't win very many football games," Coughlin said. "In my opinion, the key will be the resurgence of the defense."

Jacksonville won seven games last season after being a half away from a Super Bowl in 1999, a season in which they blew a halftime lead in the second half of the AFC Championship game against Tennessee. Salary cap troubles have since crippled what was once an impressive roster, but it has restructured enough deals that the coaching staff thinks it can make one more run.

The stars are still there on offense, and as long as Smith, Brunell and Taylor are in the lineup, this team will score points. It did so last year when they were all on the field, despite a banged-up offensive line that included retreads at right tackle and center for much of the season.

The defense, however, took major steps back in 2000 after a record-setting season in 1999 when the team went 14-2. Injuries hurt the defense, but the lack of a strong middle has been a major weakness for the Jaguars since they entered the league. Stroud can end that.

Coughlin had Walker rated fourth on his draft board, but felt that the run on defensive lineman in the first round forced him to take Stroud. When Gerard Warren, Andre Carter, Justin Smith, Richard Seymour, Jamal Reynolds and Damione Lewis went off the board in the first 12 picks, Coughlin felt he had to grab Stroud.

"If Stroud went by us, I really was not sure how we could get the kind of help up front, defensively, we needed," said Coughlin.

The thinking at the time was that an offensive tackle could be had later in the draft. It proved to be the right strategy when Michigan's Maurice Williams, who the Jaguars had rated as a first-round pick on their board, fell to them with the 12th pick in the second round. Williams will start at either right guard or right tackle, depending on where Zach Wiegert plays. Wiegert is coming off ACL surgery, but has started at both right guard and right tackle for the Jaguars.

Coughlin's gamble paid off. He got his tackle on both sides of the ball.

On defense, it was a must. Tackle Gary Walker was the team's best defensive player when he was healthy last year, but he was doubled much of the time, which limited his effectiveness. Stroud can help take away the double from Walker, perhaps even drawing it himself. Walker can be a Pro Bowl player when singled.

"He (Stroud) fills up the doorway when he walks into a room," said Coughlin. "It may give us an opportunity for single protection with Gary Walker and Tony Brackens and some of these other people to get to the quarterback with more consistency."

The Jaguars had 40 sacks last season, down from the 57 in 1999. The defense gave up 3.9 per rush, but it allowed seven 100-yard rushers, three consecutive for the first time. They allowed 209 yards to the Pittsburgh Steelers in one game, the most since 1995 against Seattle.

"You look at the teams that have won in this league, like Baltimore, and we have to be better on defense," Jaguars cornerback Aaron Beasley said. "The offense has always done a good job around here, but we have to be better on defense if we are going to get to a Super Bowl."

The clock is ticking on those hopes. The salary-cap troubles will mandate that the team might have as many as 15 rookies on the roster, which means cheap labor and but a lack of experience. All of the team's nine draft picks are expected to make the team, and when the draft ends Sunday, the scouts and personnel people will be lighting up the phone lines to sign un-drafted free agents.

That youth will put a lot of pressure on the star players, but also on high picks like Stroud and Williams to perform right away. Stroud said that will not be a problem, since he expects to be a rookie starter.

"I'm going to give it a valiant effort," Stroud said.

Which he didn't always do while at Georgia. The knock on Stroud was that he took plays off, but he said that was a reputation he earned as a freshman, one that he changed. The rep stuck. Stroud can't understand why.

"The tapes don't lie," he said.

Those tapes, according to Coughlin, show a dominant tackle who can collapse the pocket. The Jaguars need that type of player to help free up Brackens and Walker, but to also get off on third down.

Stroud will also help the Jaguars move closer to the rest of the teams in the AFC Central, where defense rules. Baltimore won the Super Bowl by setting an NFL record for fewest points allowed and actually finished second in the league in total defense to the Tennessee Titans.

"We're in the toughest division in football," Coughlin said.

In a division with big, rough, bullies, the Jaguars have always been the clean-shaven kid that was never quite tough enough.

Adding new defensive coordinator Gary Moeller and drafting Stroud are two steps Coughlin and his players hope they can take this team closer to being a defensive force.

There is still a way to go to get there, but taking a power player in the middle is one step Coughlin felt he had to take.

If it works out, this can be a playoff team.

If it doesn't, big changes will occur in 2002. There will be major roster changes, and perhaps even a change at the top. That's why this draft was the most important in a long time for the Jaguars.

It's time for this team to get tough. No more finesse football. The Jaguars have to hit somebody in the mouth.

They better hope Stroud is the guy to do it.