Jaguars hire former 49ers GM Trent Baalke as their Director of Player Personnel

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been in the news all of Tuesday. Earlier in the day, it was announced that the team would play two home games in London during the 2020 regular season. Both games will be back-to-back. So much for home-field advantage. The Jaguars have now hired former San Francisco 49ers general manager Trent Baalke as their new Director of Player Personnel. Baalke will take over for Chris Polian, who previously held the same title. General manager Dave Caldwell on the hiring:

“We expect him to get involved immediately as we make decisions on our current roster and approach free agency.”

49ers fans have wasted no time letting Twitter know how they feel about the hire. Just think a lot of crying laughing emojis and ACL jokes. Baalke certainly has a type. Taking a chance on a player coming off an ACL injury seemed to be a common theme. The 49ers making playoff runs in the early 2010s is more impressive when you look at the draft history from the Baalke years. His hit rate was...not great. He was a good example of how acquiring more picks isn’t the only way to build a team. It’s simple: draft good players. The 49eers did get Arik Armstead, Jaquiski Tartt, and DeForest Buckner in the last couple of drafts, not to mention Jimmie Ward in 2014, but for every one of those, there are three Tank Carradine’s.

Perhaps during his time off, Baalke learned a thing or two, matured, and will become consistent in player evaluation. Are you giving Baalke a chance in Jacksonville?