I never got a distinctly good answer on that, but the rubric was that the number one pick was not willing to relocate to corporate HQ and was content performing

I never got a distinctly good answer on that, but the rubric was that the number one pick was not willing to relocate to corporate HQ and was content performing quite well in their lane (a rare case of astute self-awareness, but he was ultimately ousted by the new CRO because he only saw him as competition), and the number two choice was already in range and as I said, previously contained...maybe they thought he'd "grow into the role"?