Jaguars wunderkind GM punts scouting norms to find 'intangibly rich' prospects

If you were looking for the new brass of the Jacksonville Jaguars at on-campus pro days or pondering which prospects came to town for "top 30" face-to-face visits, here's the short answer to those questions: They weren't there.

As a new direction takes shape in Jacksonville with first-timers in the general manager and head coach seats for the 2025 NFL Draft, most commonly held beliefs and traditional protocol for draft preparation and player acquisition won't make the cut.

Very few have insight into where the surprising unique turns at the direction of James Gladstone, Jacksonville's 34-year-old general manager hired to replace Trent Baalke, might lead in the draft or beyond.

"It's still familiar territory. You're talking football," Gladstone said Tuesday. "My mind remains rooted in a lot of the same things it always has been -- focusing with intention on intangibly rich human beings and allow that to be our north star."

Gladstone and 39-year-old head coach Liam Coen, who was offensive coordinator the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, are charting their own decidedly new-school course to resurrect a franchise with 58 losses the past five seasons.

Gladstone, a member of the Rams' front office and scouting staff the past nine years, has a degree in education and held sway in Los Angeles with a title of director of scouting strategy the past three years.

That strategy is unlike any other in the NFL.

He punted the in-person, on-site "top 30" visits with draft prospects, downplaying the importance stressed by other franchise scouting operations -- additional face time with a player, private on-field workouts, follow-up or extension to conversations at the NFL Scouting Combine or Senior Bowl -- with the belief the time is less vital than the biblical biography his scouting staff has on hundreds of players, literature and insight on each prospect gleaned over multiple years.

"There's a lot of layers to not doing those facility visits," Gladstone said. "That goes back awhile for me and my experience. Let's take it this direction: the implicit bias that can come to life this late in the process. The last player you might sit down with and how that might differ from the first player you sit down with knowing that it's closer to the decision that's upcoming."

Right down to the cadence of his speech and use of data as part of a brain-driven approach, Gladstone borrowed from the vocabulary and approach of his mentor, Rams GM Les Snead, in touching on reasoning for avoiding traditional draft preparation metrics and protocol to prepare and get to know prospects.

For example, the Jaguars use player-tracking data to determine on-field speed and all but dismiss coveted NFL Scouting Combine numbers like the 40-yard dash. Gladstone doesn't attend pro days.

He's willing to listen to input from scouts and coaches who have gleaned a scouting opinion from those workouts, but instead falls back on a more "global" collection of data and "sourced" information from a player's peers, friends, family, teammates and coaches.

Gladstone admitted he embraces the reality that his first pick will send a message and "set the tone" for who the Jaguars want to be as a team.

He said the sourced intel his scouting staff gathered from "those who have lived with these individuals" is likely to be more accurate than any assessment he might be able to glean from a short visit. He also feels the inevitable leak of information identifying prospects who visit a team can often expose strategic plan and direction.

Coen said the Jaguars are definitely looking for pass rushers who can "burn an edge" but stressed adaptability as he becomes more acclimated in his new role.

"Just having a larger appreciation for every position on the grass," Coen said. "That's been excited to learn more about from James, from coaches, and seeing their vision for these players."

--Field Level Media