AFC South GM Power Ranking entering Week 13: Where does Trent Baalke stand?

NFL general managers don't get nearly as much exposure as head coaches and players, and it's easy to see why. They don't hold press conferences before or after games, and they rarely step onto the football field. More often than not, they'll meet with the media during free agency or the draft. But once the regular season starts, they take a backseat. Trent Balkee is no different. He's normally working behind the scenes, but there's no doubt he's had a huge impact on the turnaround the Jacksonville Jaguars have undergone the past two years.

Baalke joined the Jags as their director of player personnel in 2020. Later that year, he became the interim general manager when David Caldwell was dismissed. He got the job on a full-time basis in 2021. Since then, he's done a good job of stacking the roster with talent and depth, but where does Baalke stack up against other general managers in the AFC South heading into Week 13 of the 2023 season? This power ranking tries to find out the answer.

4. Ran Carthon, Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans moved on from Jon Robinson last year because he failed to replenish an aging roster late in his tenure as their general manager. Ran Carthon was brought in to take his place in January, so it may be too early to give a fair assessment of the job he's done in Tennessee. That said, he isn't off to a great start. Besides signing DeAndre Hopkins earlier this year, he didn't do much to bolster the Titans' wide receiver corps. Not surprisingly, the position is one of their biggest needs heading into the offseason.

Also, his bet on Andre Dillard failed to pay off. It's true that the Titans didn't make a big investment in the former first-round pick but that's because there was barely any demand for his services in free agency to begin with. Also, Carthon and the front office thought Ryan Tannehill still had one or two good years left in him but that wasn't the case. Last but not least, his decision to first ask safety Kevin Byard to take a pay cut in the offseason and later trade him at the deadline raised eyebrows. Byard wasn't playing at an All-Pro level this season but he was still dependable and a locker room leader.

in Carthon's defense, one offseason wasn't going to be enough to fill all the roster holes his predecessor failed to address, so he should get a pass for at least one more year.