Wonderlic Test Measures Many Things, but Not NFL Prowess

Every year around the time of the National Football League, the Wonderlic aptitude test makes news. The league uses the test to assess the intelligence of its prospective batch of future stars.

The test is a set of 50 questions and test takers get only 12 minutes to complete it. The test is a lot like I.Q. and other similar measures of intelligence, but history shows the test is not necessarily a bellwhether of prowess on the football field. Still, the NFL gives the tests to aspiring pros and each team can determine for themselves how much stock to put into the scores.

A perfect score on the Wonderlic is 50; 21 is considered average.

The test measures intelligence on several levels, but not necessarily "book smarts." The Wonderlic questions tend to focus on common sense, reasoning, problem solving and other traits. But the test might not be a silver bullet in measuring intelligence in anyone - football players or regular folks. Some people are natural test takers who love the challenge of such an exam. Tests make other people naturally nervous, so they may not score as well on the Wonderlic. Furthermore, intelligent people might score well on certain types of questions and not so well on other types of measures. Plus, athletes who have taken similar aptitude tests before would likely have some sort of advantage in navigating the test questions.

Despite years of statistics that show the Wonderlic cannot accurately predict gridiron success, the league sticks with it. An analysis of Wonderlic scores of quarterbacks drafted in recent years shows no correlation between intelligence and playing ability. Some passers with incredibly high scores never made NFL rosters or sat the bench. Some players with abysmal scores have achived huge success in the pro game. Quarterbacks were used for this analysis because they generally are considered among the smartest players on the field.

According to the Web site www.macmirabile.com/Wonderlic.htm, which has tracked scores of incoming quarterbacks, Wonderlic success is not necessarily connected to football success.

For example, 2006 rookie Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans reportedly scored a 16, although other unsubstantiated reports had the for University of Texas signal caller scoring an even more dreadful 6. But Young was the league's Rookie of the Year and appears to have a promising career ahead. From the same draft class, Bruce Eugene and Darrell Hackney each scored 41 on the test; neither man holds down a NFL roster spot today.

The same holds true in any year examined on the Web site. Jeff Smith and Jared Zabransky were top scoring quarterbacks in the 2007 Wonderlic, scoring 40 and 36 respectively. Neither quarterback can be found on a NFL roster. But the league's number one draft choice in 2007, Oakland's JaMarcus Russell scored a 24 while the Baltimore Ravens Troy Smith notched only a 15. Neither player found huge success during their rookie seasons, but they at least remain employed in the NFL.

There are some other anomalies that can be found through the years. Philadelphia Eagles veteran passer Donovan McNabb tallied a 14 on the Wonderlic while long-time veteran Steve McNair scored a 15. Both quarterbacks have been largely successful throughout their careers. In 1998, the big debate was whether Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf was the best available quarterback. Manning scored a 28 and is on his way to a surefire Hall of Fame career; Leaf scored a 27 but is out of the league and considered one of the biggest draft busts in league history.

The difficulty of the Wonderlic appears to fluctuate from year to year also. This year, for example, Wonderlic scores for quarterbacks topped out at 32 scored by Louisville's Brian Brohm, who was drafted by the Green Bay Packers. Last year, 40 was the highest score recorded and four signal callers beat Brohm's score of 32 this year. There are similar up and down movement in scores throughout the years, suggesting the Wonderlic might not consistently test intelligence over time.

The NFL has been administering this test long enough to compile some hard data that the Wonderlic fails to predict football success. Maybe the NFL should stick with other standards, such as 40 yard dash times, bench press repetitions and drug tests and stop putting young recruits through a test that simply fails to answer the question the league wants to know. After all, it's football, just a game, not rocket science.