Showing posts with label NFL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NFL. Show all posts

Monday, March 23, 2009

Wonderlic!

My favorite parts of the NFL are, in this order:

1. Wonderlic scores

2. draft strategy

3. the play-offs

So here we are, the best part of the NFL season: Wonderlic season. Admittedly, Wonderlic scores have about as much to do with NFL potential as one's Myers-Briggs personality type (example of quarterbacks: Darrell Hackney scored a 40; Drew Bledsoe, a 37; Tom Brady, a 33; Dan Marino, a 16). That said, deceptively athletic Matthew Stafford is apparently the smartest quarterback in the draft, with a 38 out of 50. The best score, at least among the top prospects, was Maryland's Kevin Barnes and his 41.

Andre Smith scored a 17, which is just below average. I don't think reflects how foolish he's been since about the beginning of the year, but it does fit with his world-class effort to ruin his draft position. Michael Oher got a 19 -- what is it with stupid, outstanding college lineman? To quote Deadspin, "A score of ten is supposed to indicate literacy. Vince Young, you may recall, allegedly scored a 6." The lowest score this year is North Carolina's Hakeem Nicks with an 11. Receivers as a whole look like the dumbest position; the best player in the country last year, Michael Crabtree, got a 15.

Florida has produced some idiots lately. Percy Harvin got a 12; in the past, Chris Leak got an 8.

To get an idea of how shockingly awful some of these scores are, here is a sample test. My guess is that, for most people, it's the time limit and the pressure more than the difficulty (or lack thereof) that gets to you.