Even though Trent Baalke had several hits during his stint as the general manager with the Jacksonville Jaguars, he wasn' able to turn them into a perennial contender. This is one of the reasons he was given the boot in 2025. To replace him, the franchise hired ascending Los Angeles Rams executive James Gladstone.
From the get-go, Gladstone showed that he's not afraid to make a bold move if he thinks it will make the team better. Having said that, part of the reason he had success in his first season at the helm is that Baalke left a roster (with obvious needs) in place.
This begs the question: Just how good was Gladstone last year? How does he stack up against his peers? An NFL analyst shared his thoughts.
Where does Jaguars' James Gladstone land in NFL general manager rankings?
Patrick Daughtery of NBC Sports ranked all 32 NFL general managers. He put James Gladstone at No. 18, arguing that all the winning in 2025 might have masked some of his misses.
"James Gladstone had a gangbusters first year — despite his biggest decisions," Daughtery wrote. "Gladstone can't take credit for hiring Liam Coen, because he arrived one month prior. He can lay claim to trading up for Travis Hunter at No. 2 overall, but the two-way prospect ended up playing just 485 total snaps. Gladstone's free agent additions along the offensive line were a bust. His defensive add-ons were a bust. His defensive add-ons were scarcely better."
Calling center Robert Hansey and right guard Patrick Mekari busts may be a bit of a reach, though. Sure, the latter left a bit to be desired, but the former was alright.
Patrick does praise Gladstone for trading for Jakobi Meyers at the deadline but also states that it kind of negates the idea that Travis Hunter was a two-way star. This point is a bit of a mischaracterization because the Jags only traded for Jakobi once Hunter suffered a season-ending injury.
Daughtery's biggest criticism of Gldstone, though, is that he went against the norm in the 2026 NFL Draft by sticking to his board instead of the consensus. Nevertheless, he notes that we'll soon find out just how good the Jaguars general manager is.
"The Jags understandably have a little ego after leaping from four to 13 victories. Something special happened in 2025. We will know soon enough if the neophyte general manager had anything to do with it," Daughtery wrote.
It may sound a bit harsh, but that's most definitely a fair assessment of Gladstone. After all, he did put the finishing touches on a roster that propelled Jacksonville to 13 wins and a division title. That said, he also inherited a talented core of players from his predecessor, Trent Baalke.
Trevor Lawrence, linebacker Devin Lloyd, running back Travis Etienne, cornerback Montaric Brown, and safety Antonio Johnson were among the players who made an impact for the Jaguars in 2025. Baalke brougth all of them in.
On the other hand, Gladstone did acquire key contributors such as wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and linebacker Dennis Gardeck. The issue is that most of his rookie class didn't have an impact. Granted, it was mostly due to injury (Travis Hunter, Wyatt Milum, and Caleb Ransaw missed time), but the jury is still out on him.
James Gladstone is counting on several Jaguars to make an impact
Based on the net impact, you can make the case that James Gladstone didn't do enough to address the larger scale roster. However, we'll have a better idea in 2026, as the Jaguars will get back Travis Hunter, Caleb Ransaw, and Wyatt Milum. All three should have key roles. Couple that with the fact that Jacksonville bolstered nearly every position group in the draft, and Gladstone's work will soon be evident.
Of course, the Jags will need several players to step into bigger roles. Running backs Bhayshul Tuten and Chris Rodriguez, both brought in by Gladstone, will need to prove that they can fill the void left by Travis Etienne in free agency. For their part, Ransaw and rookie Jalen Huskey will need to make an impact in the back end.
On the other hand, rookie Nate Boerkircher will be under pressure to prove that the Jaguars made the right call when they steered away from the consensus to draft him 56th overall.
If all of them make a leap next season, James Gladstone will be seen as a savvy executive, and not just a general manager that likes to be bold.
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