March 2, 2006 | Onion Sports INDIANAPOLIS, IN?After scoring a reported 6 on his first attempt at the Wonderlic intelligence test at last week's NFL combine, draft specialists have called into question whether University of Texas quarterback Vince Young possesses the intellectual vigor to be a successful quarterback in the NFL. The Wonderlic, a 12-minute, 50-question exam that evaluates a player's ability to learn on the job and solve complex problems, has become the centerpiece of the NFL scouting combine's player-evaluation process, especially at the quarterback position. Many teams, such as the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers, all but ignore arm strength, field vision, attitude, and leadership ability, electing to use a player's Wonderlic score as the sole basis for choosing a quarterback on Draft Day. "We originally thought quite highly of Young, who ran a seemingly complicated offense at Texas," said Houston Texans general manager Charley Casserly. "He had all the tools needed to score well on a standardized test in this league. Vince's completion percentage got higher every year, he was good at picking up the blitzes, and his ability to organize an audible at the line of scrimmage was unequaled in college ball. But his inability to answer story problems, diagram sentences, and solve simple geometric equations makes us wonder if he's really as smart on the field as he's been playing." Texans scouts observing the Wonderlic test said Young obviously struggled throughout, often fixating on his primary answer, "A," and never checking down to the other options on any given question unless pressured, when he would almost always throw it up to "all of the above." Moreover, Young's awkward mechanics during the exam drew criticism from onlookers, as he instinctually reverted to a sidearm-style delivery that often resulted in the incomplete filling-in of circles. The Tennessee Titans, who have the third pick in the draft, had also been interested in drafting Young. Offensive coordinator Norm Chow, however, has confirmed that the interest has diminished in the wake of Young's low Wonderlic score. "We have to consider Young based on the numbers he's put up," Chow said. "If Young's 6-for-50 completion rate on this series of assorted multiple-choice questions tells us that he's not a superior athlete, who are we to argue?" Houston, the team with the No. 1 pick in this year's draft, had been considering replacing quarterback David Carr with popular hometown hero Young. However, for all his problems on the field, Carr scored a 24 on his Wonderlic before being taken first overall in the 2002 draft. "Let's face it?trading an untested 6 for a known 24 is a recipe for disaster," Casserly said. "If Vince Young can't tell us how many 29-cent loaves of bread can be purchased with the $3.49 in his pocket, how can we expect him to understand the two-minute drill?let alone his own quarterback rating?" Texans owner Bob McNair was even more emphatic. "Vince is definitely the sexy choice here," said McNair, who is reluctant to draft another "Wonderlic bust" such as 14-point-scoring washout Dan Marino. "He's a Houston native, he can make all the throws, has a great ability to see down the field, and there's no denying he brought the NCAA championship back to the great state of Texas. But at this club, we have high intellectual standards. We believe that the fans in Houston deserve someone who can at least match his jersey number on a problem-solving test." The Texans are not the only team shying away from the athletic, battle-tested Young following his unusually low score on the timed, multiple-choice test. Scouts and coaches from around the league could not say for certain how far Young's stock might yet plummet. "We expected [Young] to score somewhere in the neighborhood of Vinny Testaverde, Ben Roethlisberger, or Brett Favre?instead, he tested more like a Randall Cunningham, Donovan McNabb, or Michael Vick," said a source within the Atlanta Falcons organization, who asked not to be identified. "At this juncture, we are uncomfortable saying this poor-testing quarterback can take us to the next level." According to Casserly, many quarterbacks have struggled to adjust to the complicated offenses in the National Football League. He referred to the struggles of Chad Pennington, a Rhodes Scholar finalist at Marshall University who has underperformed in his six years in the NFL. "The Jets couldn't get an actual Rhodes Scholar, and now they're paying the price for settling for a mere finalist," Casserly said. "We're glad that we can still avoid making that same mistake."
Onion is great, but the fact remains, a quarterback needs a working intellect to succeed. Otherwise you get Kordell Stewart, who the Steelers had to overly simplify the offense for, and you're spending big money on a game manager. I don't want a guy as my quarterback who can't get more than six of these right. 1. Look at the row of numbers below. What number should come next? 8 4 2 1 ½ ¼ ? 2. Assume the first two statements are true. Is the final one: 1. true, 2. false, 3. not certain? The boy plays baseball. All baseball players wear hats. The boy wears a hat. 3. Paper sells for 21 cents per pad. What will four pads cost? 4. How many of the five pairs of items listed below are exact duplicates? Nieman, K.M. Neiman, K.M. Thomas, G.K. Thomas, C.K. Hoff, J.P. Hoff, J.P. Pino, L.R. Pina, L.R. Warner, T.S. Wanner, T.S. 5. RESENT RESERVE • Do these words 1. have similar meanings, 2. have contradictory meanings, 3. mean neither the same nor opposite? 8. When rope is selling at $.10 a foot, how many feet can you buy for sixty cents? 9. The ninth month of the year is 1. October, 2. January, 3. June, 4. September, 5 May. 10. Which number in the following group of numbers represents the smallest amount? 7 .8 31 .33 2 14. Assume the first two statements are true. Is the final one: 1. true, 2. false, 3. not certain? Tom greeted Beth. Beth greeted Dawn. Tom did not greet Dawn Those are six out of fifty questions that are DEFINITE GIMMES. People that are defending Young would even go so far as to say "who cares if he knows the difference between RESENT and RESERVE? Well folks, that's basic illiteracy. You try and get into the University of Texas without knowing those terms. He might be able to react quickly, and throw very far, but in the grand scheme of things, I don't want a guy who can't get all of those questions and maybe one or two more being a MAJOR investment for my franchise. It's not as if he's returning kicks, he's squaring off against Bill Belichick twice a year. -X-
It is a shame. Vince Young has all the tools to be a quality athlete. This has dimished his value and there is a good chance he ould fall out of the top 5 in the draft. It goes to show you that academics are just as important as athletics. You have to take what happened with the wonderlic seriously. Where Young used to be a green light, now the yellow caution flag is waving. I wonder why nobody has nick named Young "The Scarecrow" after what happened at the combines?
The reality is it will cost Young some up front money but he may end up in a better situation. If Young has the goods, and I believe he does, he is going to be successful and make a boat load of money. If he doesn't have the goods this will cost him on his first contract. Not a big deal in the scheme of things.
Jay Cutler Aces Wonderlic Exam Blindfolded Posted In: The Brushback INDIANAPOLIS--The amazing Jay Cutler, one of the greatest quarterbacks in football history, wowed scouts over the weekend by getting a perfect score on the Wonderlic exam while wearing a blindfold. It was the first ever perfect score on the test, but for Cutler, it was all in a day?s work. ?Ah, it was nothing. I just decided to do it blindfolded to get the attention of the scouts,? said Cutler. ?I do amazing things like this every day. Once you?ll get to know me you?ll see that pretty much everything I do is perfect. Hell, I can play linebacker if they want. I can kick field goals. If someone gets injured, I can heal them - with my bare hands. Why do you think I rocketed up the draft board so fast?? After taking the Wonderlic, Cutler returned to the football field and amazed more scouts with his superhuman skills. The highlight of his workout was a 90-yard perfect touchdown pass thrown while he was falling backwards to the ground. Immediately after the play, Cutler dropped down and did 100 push-ups. ?Whenever I score a touchdown or make some spectacular play, I always drop and do 100 right after it,? said Cutler. ?I know it might seem kind of weird to certain Hollywood types and certain ?athletic? quarterbacks from Texas, but I guess I?m just cut from a different cloth. Oops. Look at the time. I?ve got to go to the gym and pump iron, then head over to the children?s hospital for my weekly visit. Then it?s off to my MENSA meeting.? Cutler is a product of Vanderbilt University. Because of their small football program, he didn?t get the media attention that Matt Leinart and Vince Young did. Recently, however, his stock has soared and he's now projected as the second or third pick in the draft. ?Jay just came out of nowhere this year,? said one AFC scout. ?He didn?t have an impressive record in college, but he has all the tools ? strength, speed, intelligence, you name it. The fact that he aced that Wonderlic test without looking didn?t surprise me at all. I?m just surprised he even bothered taking it. Nobody here would dare question his intelligence, and if he got that impression, then we all owe him a big apology.? The buzz around Jay Cutler is growing louder by the day, while the opposite is true for his two main rivals, Leinart and Young. Even Leinart admitted, however, that Cutler was worthy of the hype. ?It?s hard to argue with all this hype,? Leinart told reporters at the combine. ?He is amazing. I?ve never seen anything quite like him in my life. The funny thing is that he?s actually a really nice guy. I walked up to him yesterday all nervous and stuff and shook his hand. He was totally cool, you know, just a regular guy. He even talked to me for a few minutes. Of course I was a blubbering idiot the whole time. Man, I?m such a dork.? Believe it or not, there are still some people who are not sold on Cutler. One, to be exact: Vince Young of the Texas Longhorns. ?I?m sorry I just don?t see it,? Young said yesterday. ?OK so he?s got speed and agility and all that crap. Big deal. I?m a pretty good quarterback, too. Remember me? Rose Bowl? About a million total yards? Everybody saying I was the best quarterback they?d ever seen? Yea well I haven?t gone anywhere. I?m still here. Yes, I got a 6 on the Wonderlic on the first try, but then I took it again and got a 16. Of course, I wasn?t blindfolded at the time - but I did have my headphones on.? Whichever team drafts Cutler will almost certainly be the favorite to win the Super Bowl next year and every year for the foreseeable future. That team could be the Tennessee Titans, which is just fine with Cutler. ?I?d love to play for the Titans,? he said. ?Winning a dozen or so Super Bowls here in Tennessee would be terrific. The only thing I worry about is whether it will get boring for the fans to watch someone so flawless in every way. That could be a serious problem. I hope it doesn?t discourage the Titans from selecting me.? Most observers have the Titans selecting Cutler, especially since Nashville city officials are already planning the 2007 Super Bowl parade..
One thing in the article was that the Jets really value the wonderlic very high. I for one, still say Young goes in the top 10, but I can't be as confident he can go in the top 5 as I was. Yes, his follies with the Wonderlic will cost him money, but he will get his chance to play in the NFL.
