Members of the Duval Devout were glued to social media throughout the week to see who would replace Trent Baalke as the general manager of their beloved Jacksonville Jaguars. After bringing in new head coach Liam Coen, his coaching staff, and Tony Boscelli as the executive vice president it was the final spot to secure the front office to rebuild the franchise from the 4-13 performance last season. The top two candidates seemed to be Ian Cunningham and James Gladstone. Gladstone surprised the public by landing the job.

On paper, it seemed a no-brainer.  With experience working as a Baltimore Ravens scout dating back to 2013, Cunningham recently revamped the Chicago Bears for sharp improvement during his tenure as the assistant general manager starting in 2022. And that was after helping Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman as the director of player personnel in 2021 build the foundation for an organization that got to two Super Bowls in the past three years and won in the 2024 season.

With all those credentials, what could have put the Rams scouting director over Cunningham’s wealth of experience? Perhaps it was that youth that gave Gladstone the edge.

Gladstone in his five years of NFL executive experience helped the Rams front office put together a team that got a Lombardi trophy (working with Liam Cohen) without a first-round pick that same season while also rebuilding a defense after losing future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Aaron Davis. But the Jags newest GM completes a triumvirate of first-year guys at that high level of an NFL franchise hierarchy. Coen and Boscelli are both performing their jobs as rookies at the position just like Gladstone.

But maybe that’s the goal of Jaguars owner Shad Khan? If one listens to Khan introducing Liam Coen to the Duval Devout for the first time as the team’s head coach, the use of the term “modern” could have made for a particularly potent drinking game. What other way does one best assure that their franchise is modern than by getting guys esteemed as either geniuses or Hall of Famers amongst their peers while also being younger of those who garner such respect?