posted by jl3
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As we prepare for the upcoming NFL draft all the players have gone through their testing, either on paper or on foot. But there's one test that many question each year: the Wonderlic test. Many scouts believe that this test will tell them a lot about a player.
Everyone knows the Wonderlic test is a 12 minute, 50 question exam that NFL teams use to measure intelligence and other decision making factors. But what does this have to do with running and throwing anyway?
NFL scouts will tell you that this score can measure a player's quick decision making ability, while others feel it may be out dated for today's player. According to the experts the average score for a football player is around 20 and a score of 10 means you're barely literate.
It's too early to examine the 2007 class of QB's, but a quick note, Brady Quinn of the Cleveland Browns scored a 29 and JaMarcus Russell scored a 24. Both are above the average but haven't played enough yet to evaluate.
Just look at some of the other scores from the past and how the player has performed on the field: Matt Leinart and Kellen Clemens both scored a 35, both scores are higher then the average Chemist score and both have performed poorly on the field.
While Jay Cutler scored a 26 and has been head and shoulders above that QB class. From the 2005 class, Alex Smith scored a 40, Aaron Rodgers a 35 and Kyle Orton a 26. With the exception of Rodgers, both Smith and Orton have not lived up to expectations. We'll find out how Rodgers does for Green Bay as he takes over for the retired Brett Favre.
From the same QB class Jason Campbell of the Redskins scored a 23 and Derek Anderson of the Browns scored a 19. Both have been the best in their respective class with Anderson exceeding anyone's wildest dreams.
From the 2004 testing Eli Manning had the highest at 39 while J.P. Losman and Matt Schaub both scored a 31. But the lowest score of all the top QB's was Ben Roethlisberger at 25. While Eli just won the super bowl, the best player from this draft has easily been Big Ben.
Just to prove that this score is not the end-all-be-all for QB's, the three headed monster of Rex Grossman-Brooks Bollinger-Kyle Boller all scored higher then Carson Palmer. I think you see my point...while this test may move some players up the draft board, it shouldn't keep the scouts from doing what they do best.
