umfan323

August 31st, 2011 at 2:51 PM ^

If they say these test dont mean anything then why do they keep giving them out ??? It doesnt guarantee success or failure ... O well

mark5750

August 31st, 2011 at 4:17 PM ^

I have been serving in the Army for just over twelve years now in a variety of Special Operations assignments and all of them use this test as one part of their assesment tools to identify viable candidates.  While it isn't an end all solution it is a valuable tool when used with other tests and interviews.  As far as the old excuse of "I didn't take a meaningless multiple guess test seriously" when you are taking a series of tests and interviews to identify how many millions of dollars you will be handed before ever doing anything, not taking it seriously may be just as much of an indicator as doing poorly on it.

Fort Wayne Blue

August 31st, 2011 at 4:02 PM ^

its different for Quarterbacks though .... they have to be smart, quick, intelligent, and good decision makers. Wide Receivers can be a little more challenged....they run a route and catch the ball.... they're reading 1 or 2 guys where a Quarterback is reading 11....



so Manningham's score is apples to Pryor's oranges

Pdeaner

August 31st, 2011 at 5:06 PM ^

The Wonderlic Test is used by hiring mangagers and HR departments (as well as the NFL) as a way of assessing the general intelligence and career aptitude of employees.  A score of 16-22 suggests a limited capacity for anything outside of routine tasks.  A score of 7 falls below the basic line of literacy.
 
 
 

pasadenablue

August 31st, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^

i think for the first time in years, that deadspin has said something noble and intelligent:

The real story here is Bob McGinn, or any writer or personnel staff member who sees fit to leak a player's Wonderlic score. It's a pointless measure of nothing, it's supposed to be confidential, and it serves zero purpose except...what? Well, the only time scores leak, it seems to be either a high-scoring white player or a low-scoring black player.

emphasis above is mine.

 

the wonderlic means little to nothing.  as much as i dislike pryor and loathe osu, this is something that he doesn't deserve.  there's too much of a racial element to it.  because seriously, if he were white, nobody would care what his wonderlic was.

BlueTimesTwo

August 31st, 2011 at 5:00 PM ^

Pryor could look like Gordon Gee and it wouldn't change the fact that he is a dumbass.  I assume that most people on here, being Michigan fans, are commenting due to the fact that he is an idiot, not because he is an idiot of a particular race.  The source's reasons for leaking the information are irrelevant to our reasons for being interested in that information.  Idiocy knows no skin color (although it does prefer certain jersey colors).

74polSKA

August 31st, 2011 at 3:08 PM ^

The Ohio fans have had a lot of fun with Forcier not going to class and being stupid, so I think it's just a little getting even from my perspective. 

Nationally, I think revealing the scores does seem to perpetuate the "black quarterback" stereotype.  I have heard analysts criticize some white qbs for low scores over the years, IIRC Ryan Leaf was pretty low, but it doesn't seem to get as much press.  The only way we'll know if there's any correlation between Wonderlic, race and success is to see the scores for all quarterbacks and compare.

pasadenablue

August 31st, 2011 at 3:25 PM ^

The Ohio fans have had a lot of fun with Forcier not going to class and being stupid, so I think it's just a little getting even from my perspective.

its one thing to make fun of kids for not going to class.  i still laugh at scholars like andy katzenmoyer (famed for his golf and ballroom dancing courses).  its another thing to hate on someone for a test which has been shown to have no real correlation to his job.  ill put it like this: its like making fun of a computer programmer for not being able to throw a football 50 yards.  its just a dick move imo.

74polSKA

August 31st, 2011 at 3:53 PM ^

I agree about the dick move part but I don't know if I'd go as far as the computer programmer comment.  I think the gist of the test is how well you can process and make decisions quickly under pressure situations, attributes that would help a qb do his job.  It would be like a computer programmer that can't balance a checkbook.  It's something you'd assume he could do pretty well but it doesn't mean he can't do his job. 

Just FYI, the local radio guys in CBus are making fun of him too, not that that proves anything either way from the racial aspect.

Bronco648

August 31st, 2011 at 4:33 PM ^

What does computer programming have to do with math? I think a better comparison would be to ask a programmer to write snippet of code such that he choose the best and most efficient solution. There are bunches of ways to "skin a cat" but only one or two will be the most efficient.

74polSKA

September 1st, 2011 at 8:09 AM ^

My point was that the general public would expect someone with the intelligence to be a computer programmer to have the mathematical ability to balance a checkbook.  Similarly, they would expect someone with the intelligence to play D1 college football to be able to score higher on the Wonderlic test.  The poster I was replying to implied that intelligence has nothing to do with playing QB, or maybe that the Wonderlic isn't a measure of intelligence, I forget at this point.

Edit:  Sorry, haven't had my coffee yet.  I inferred, he implied.

ZooWolverine

August 31st, 2011 at 5:39 PM ^

Unless I'm missing something, the comment was saying that being able to throw a football 50 yards was unrelated to the ability to program a computer, not that computer programmers could never throw a ball 50 yards.

So in trying to break a computer programmer/athleticism stereotype, you may have enhanced a computer programmer/reading comprehension stereotype--which I'm only jokingly saying because I'm also in computer science.

gbdub

August 31st, 2011 at 4:21 PM ^

To be honest, the low Wonderlic scores I hear most frequently are those of Vince Young and Terry Bradshaw. One of those two is of a decidedly pale complexion.

You hear about low scores frequently because it serves as a handy way for jealous fans to knock a guy down a peg. It's depressing to think a disliked opponent is both athletically gifted AND a genius, so learning that he's a certified MORAN provides some schadenfreude. On the other hand, for a less-gifted fan of the low-scoring player, the test proves that all those eggheads are stupid nerds and all that matters is MAKING PLAYS. It's fluff.

Seriously, why the need to play the race card on what is really just fluff? And anyway, to prove it's a racial thing you'd need to show that there are a statistically significant number of white QBs whose low score is not publicized and a significant number of black QBs whose high score is not publicized. I think you'll find that the outliers on either side are publicized, regardless of color (and that Wonderlic scores for all QBs, dumb, average, and otherwise, are usually made public).

MGoGolf

August 31st, 2011 at 3:22 PM ^

2010

The average score for an NFL quarterback is 24.

The average for 30 quarterbacks slated to start in 2010 is 28.5.

The average score among the past seven Super Bowl winners is 30.1.

Wonderlic scores for the NFL's projected starting quarterbacks in 2010:

1. Ryan Fitzpatrick 48

2. Alex Smith 40

3. Eli Manning 39

4. Matt Stafford 38

5. Tony Romo 37

6. Aaron Rodgers 35

6. Matt Leinart 35

8. Tom Brady 33

9. Matt Ryan 32

10. Matt Schaub 31

11. Philip Rivers 30

12. Matt Hasselbeck 29

12. Marc Bulger 29

12. Brady Quinn 29

15. Mark Sanchez 28

15. Peyton Manning 28

15. Drew Brees 28

18. Josh Freeman 27

18. Joe Flacco 27

20. Carson Palmer 26

20. Jay Cutler 26

20. Kyle Orton 26

23. Ben Roethlisberger 25

24. Jason Campbell 23

25. Brett Favre 22

25. Tim Tebow 22

25. Chad Henne 22

28. Bruce Gradkowski 19

29. Vince Young 15

30. Donovan McNabb 14

30. David Garrard 14

Unknown: Matt Cassel, Matt Moore

Top quarterback prospects in 2010 NFL draft

Sam Bradford, Oklahoma 36

Colt McCoy, Texas 25

Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame 23

Tebow 22

Other Wonderlic scores of note:

Brian Griese 39

Drew Bledsoe 36

Steve Young 33

John Elway 29

Chad Pennington 25

JaMarcus Russell 24

Mark Brunell 22

Trent Dilfer 22

Michael Vick 20

Daunte Culpepper 18

Dan Marino 15

Randall Cunningham 15

Jim Kelly 15

Terry Bradshaw 15

Chris Leak 8

Franz Schubert

August 31st, 2011 at 4:57 PM ^

Shouldnt this guy be doing something a little more productive than playing football? Seems like a waste of resources when this guy isnt doing something that could benefit society or the world for that matter..Im only half serious.