"Two of the NFL's brightest future stars, LSU CB Patrick Peterson and Georgia WR A.J. Green, registered among the five lowest Wonderlic scores of the 330 participants at this year’s NFL scouting combine.
Peterson was one of four prospects who recorded a dreaded single-digit score, which NFL teams often equate with getting their name right, tying with South Carolina's Chris Culliver for the lowest mark among all defensive backs as both correctly answered only nine questions on the 12-minute, 50-question test.
Green registered the lowest score of all receivers, answering 10 questions correctly."
These results always change the way I view a prospect. Maybe you've read stories about how the Wonderlic doesn't matter - or how other prospects that scored very low went on to become great players anyway. Well, I think a single-digit score should be cause for alarm. Have you ever taken the Wonderlic? No? Well, go here and try it yourself. I'll wait for you to take it and come back here...go ahead.
Well, now you should see why a single digit score is alarming. I mean, if you can't answer, "Paper sells for 21 cents per pad. What will 5 pads cost?" then you are in trouble. I know the test doesn't necessarily equate with football intelligence, but I think it gives you an accurate estimate of a person's overall intelligence level. Even more, it might give you an idea of the trouble you are in for when you give some 21 year-old moron millions of dollars.
Need an example? Vince Young scored a 6 on his first attempt at the test. His agent "coached him up" and he ended up with a 16 - still far below the 21 to 24 score most teams want to see from a quarterback. Look at the current state of Vince Young's career. He has displayed poor leadership, clashed with his coach (who got fired), made his coach and family think he was going to commit suicide, and threw his shoulder pads into the stands in Tennessee after getting hurt and booed. This guy was handed the keys to the franchise and all he's done is screw up and make immature decisions. Oh, and he was drafted third overall in 2006 and was guaranteed over $25 million. Nice work if you can get it.
Check out more past players' scores here.
So what should we make of A.J. Green, the Browns possible pick at number 6 overall, scoring a 10? Well, Percy Harvin, the 2009 NFL Rookie of the Year, had a Wonderlic score of 12. Hakeem Nicks, who has been a decent receiver, scored an 11. So it doesn't necessarily mean Green is going to have a hard time in the NFL. But it may reveal that he'll need a lot of coaching and someone to keep him from making bad decisions off the field as well. Some offenses are more complex than others, and it helps a receiver to be smart. They have to make reads at the line of scrimmage and even make decisions in-route (option routes) that require quick thinking. Knowing Green may struggle early, and that the NFL's lockout may keep a guy like Green from having enough time to learn the offense, may cause team's to shy away from him in the top 5 to 10 picks. He may not contribute as heavily in his rookie year as many think he will. It could take 2 or 3 seasons in the same system with the same quarterback for him to achieve pro bowl type numbers. That's not exactly what teams want from a top 10 wide receiver pick.
Patrick Peterson is a surprise, scoring a single digit result. Defensive backs have to make lots of decisions and recognize formations and routes on the fly. Though as a rookie, he could play the nickle back position and limit his responsibilities enough to be successful right away. There aren't often as many complexities for a DB to grasp within a typical defensive system, with exotic schemes like Pittsburgh excepted. Nawrocki's article quotes a coach as saying, basically, that even if he is dumb, just put him in man-to-man coverage and he'll do fine.
Either of these guys could be available at the Browns pick in the first round. It will be interesting to see where they end up. Every team is dealing with the reality that there may be either no training camp at all this year, or a very abbreviated version. There won't be much time for rookie holdouts and thick-headed rookie hand holding.
At least Eric Mangini isn't doing the drafting anymore....
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