By Nolan Nawrocki
April 4, 2005

Quarterbacks | Running backs | Fullbacks | Tight ends
 Wide receivers | Centers | Offensive guards | Offensive tackles
Defensive ends | Defensive tackles | Nose tackles | Inside linebackers
 Outside linebackers | Cornerbacks | Free safeties | Strong safeties | Punters | Placekickers

Many teams use various tests to measure intelligence, personality and psychological health. The most commonly used test given to NFL prospects to measure intelligence is the Wonderlic test. The test, first designed in 1937 to measure cognitive ability, has 50 questions that must be answered in 12 minutes. The questions get progressively more difficult, so few people finish all 50. The score is the total number of correct answers.

PFW has obtained results from this year’s Wonderlic test and compared them with the results from last spring, when this year’s top pro prospects were entering spring practice. Test results, according to Wonderlic president Michael Callans, should not be expected to vary by more than a few points any time the test is taken. Our comparison, however, reveals much greater disparities in the results. This phenomenon could be attributed to a number of factors.

For one, Callans said a poor test environment in the spring could make a difference. Scouts administer the test to players, and Callans said it could be very distracting if the test is being taken in the bleachers and teammates are heckling them. It should be noted, however, that many teams administer the test in a classroom setting with ideal conditions, much like it is administered by Wonderlic officials at the Combine.

A more likely reason for a marked improvement in Wonderlic results, scouts believe, is that an agent has gotten ahold of one of the 18 versions of the test and has helped his client prepare for the exam. It is no coincidence that players represented by some of the top football agents experienced the most improvement in scores. While it could improve their draft status, don’t think that NFL officials are not aware of the significant changes. In fact, some teams will even discredit the results from the Combine and regard the result from the spring as a truer measure of intelligence.

The player who made the biggest jump in scores, improving 18 points, was Akron QB Charlie Frye. Auburn QB Jason Campbell was not far behind with a 14-point increase, which doubled his score from the spring. With Campbell, scouts say it is important to remember that he grew up in a Mississippi school system that is not known for being exceptional. The test gives teams a decent idea how quickly a player can translate a play diagrammed on a chalkboard to the practice field, be able to digest a thick playbook and articulately respond to the heavy scrutiny of the media. But it is not a true measure of football intelligence. Frye, for example, sat in on coaches’ meetings to learn a new offense as a senior, and Campbell played in four different offensive systems in five years. Their knowledge of the game may not come through in a Wonderlic test, but the ability to rationalize and think, which become important when eyeing a safety for high-low reads and audibilizing at the line of scrimmage, are measured.

Auburn RB Carnell Williams doubled his score from 11 to 22, and Kansas State RB Darren Sproles tripled his spring total from 7 to 21. Others who more than doubled their totals include Georgia WR Fred Gibson, Marshall DE Johnathan Goddard and Michigan State DT Kevin Vickerson.

On the other end of the spectrum, Wisconsin RB Anthony Davis saw his spring score drop 11 points and Virginia OG Elton Brown and UNLV S Jamaal Brimmer each slipped by 12, all nearly cutting their scores in half. The reason for the decrease is uncertain, but there’s a good chance the first result may not have been the most accurate, and all three players could be flagged for registering a low number at the Combine. In the few instances where players’ results dropped considerably, Callans said anxiety could have had an impact, but the true reason is unknown.

Callans understands that millions of dollars in the form of signing bonuses are at stake but frowns upon the idea that savvy agents would try to manipulate the test scores.

"It's unethical and wrong, and (agents) shouldn’t be doing it," Callans said. "I understand all that is involved and the relationship it could have to a player’s draft status, but it becomes a very slippery slope in society when people think that way. You don’t have to cheat to get ahead."

Following is a comparison of Wonderlic results from the spring of 2004, prior to players’ senior seasons, vs. those recorded at the 2005 Combine, with players broken down by position. Some programs, such as Michigan, Tennessee, Florida and Oklahoma, do not allow Wonderlic testing in the spring, and thus, results were not available for those programs. Early-entry juniors would not have been asked to take the exam following their sophomore seasons and therefore do not have spring results.

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Running backs

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Fullbacks

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Tight ends

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Centers

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Offensive guards