Welcome to the NFL
The National Football League (NFL) combine is a unique event. It is mostly known as the place where future players partake in full physicals, face-to-face interviews and different exercises such as bench pressing, jumping the broad-jump and high-jump, and running the 40-yard dash. One task of the NFL combine that is often overlooked is the Wonderlic test.
The Wonderlic test is a 50-question IQ test developed by Eldon F. Wonderlic that individuals have 12 minutes to take and complete. The difficulty of the test increases as the questions progress and scoring is based on the number of correct answers given under the time constraint. The average score is 20, however a score of 10 is the base score that determines literacy. The test is intended for any individual, but has been made popular in the media through the NFL’s use of it.
One position in football where this test has been thoroughly used as a determinant of success is for quarterbacks. In recent years some extremely successful Super-Bowl winning quarterbacks have scored high on the test. For instance, Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers scored a 35 and Eli Manning from the New York Giants scored a 39. On the other hand, some highly-drafted players including Blaine Gabbert scored a 42 on the test, but did not go on to have success in the NFL. These examples show that despite high scores on the test, results do not necessarily predict a player’s potential future success in the NFL. One thing in common though is that looking at all current starting quarterbacks, there is only one with a below average score on the test.
At California State University an analysis of the test was conducted. The study looked at the correlation between a player’s test score and their performance in the NFL. Findings show limited evidence to support statistical discrimination based on Wonderlic scores. Also, a 2009 study by Brian D. Lyons and his colleagues found that Wonderlic scores failed to positively and significantly predict future NFL performance for any position. With these two studies in mind, it makes sense the teams vary in their considerations for the test. Though, it is undeniable that 31 of the 32 quarterbacks are not below the average. This may indicate that the results of the test are being considered.
So the question remains, if you were a team, how serious would you consider this test? Also, would the position of the player impact this decision? Finally, would you trust the leader of your team to win you a championship if they scored below average on the test?
Click on the link below to be able to try this test yourself!
http://wonderlictestsample.com/wonderlic-test-sample/50-question-wonderlic-test/
Sources:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08959280902970401
http://jse.sagepub.com/content/13/6/642.abstract
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1535104-how-smart-are-you-take-the-wonderlic-test-find-out
