Tom Gamble, David Caldwell Jaguars GM candidates

It seems a virtual certainty that the Jacksonville Jaguars will be firing general manager Gene Smith shortly after the conclusion of the 2012 NFL season. With that, that means that potential candidates names will start to be linked to the Jagaurs as potential hires.

Don Banks of Sports Illustrated mentions a couple of names, including Tom Gamble, who's been linked to the Jaguars quite a bit:

As for the general manager search, there's a good probability that Jacksonville started by calling ex-Colts GM Bill Polian to gauge his potential interest. But Polian, given the late-career stage he's in, is only thought to be open to certain potential general manager openings, where the length of commitment and size of the rebuilding job is not too massive. The Jaguars are not thought to be a team he'd consider.

Two young GM candidates to remember are San Francisco director of player personnel Tom Gamble, and Atlanta's Caldwell. Gamble may have the inside track on the job, but Caldwell is also almost certain to be interviewed.

The portion of this about Bill Polian sounds like pure speculation, I assume because people forget his final 5-6 years as general manager of the Indianapolis Colts was riddled with horrible personnel decisions. The other names however, sound familiar.

Tom Gamble has been linked to the Jaguars multiple times now and appears to potentially be the Jaguars primary target, but there will likely be competition for him.

The other name mentioned is the Atlanta Falcons director of player personnel, David Caldwell. Caldwell assists Thomas Dimitroff with scouting college and pro football, serving as the director of college scouting the previous four years.