(This is 90% Danzig, with some great data; my small contribution is the Analysis section after the scores and before the sources)
I was catching up on my RSS feed yesterday and I came across a report that Mario Manningham of Michigan scored a ‘6′ on his Wonderlic IQ test. A fricking ‘6′?? I thought he went to the second best public university in the nation?? Jesus, even Chris Leak squeezed out an got an ‘8′… and he only went to Florida. I swear I’d give a $1,000 if I could find out what our own President would get on the test.
“You’re kidding!… You got an ‘8′ too??”
Which got me thinking, what kind of Wonderlic scores did the BEST public university in the nation produce?
As a background, the Wonderlic is an IQ test where you get 12 minutes to answer 50 multiple choice questions. A score of ‘20′ is judged as ‘average intelligence’ while a score of ‘10′ indicates literacy issues. Statistically, you can score a ‘5′ or ‘6′ just by guessing randomly. You are allowed one retest and can accept the higher of the two. Retest scores are usually higher, but many actually score lower. Here are some NFL averages:
* Offensive tackle - 26
* Center - 25
* Quarterback - 24
* Guard - 23
* Tight end - 22
* Safety - 19
* Linebacker - 19
* Cornerback - 18
* Wide receiver - 17
* Fullback - 17
* Runningback - 16
So how about our Bears versus the best public universities in the nation? Excuse me for being surprised, but we stack up pretty well. When I average the top 5 recorded scores for each of the schools, Cal comes out on top. (NOTE: You can’t average all the players for each school because some schools send more kids to the NFL than others).
University of California, Berkeley (38.2, avg of top 5, 36.4 without ML)
42 - Marshawn Lynch* (14 on first try)
39 - Aaron Merz
39 - Aaron Rogers
36 - Thomas Decoud
35 - Justin Forsett
33 - Ryan Riddle
31 - Dante Hughes
30 - Mark Wilson
29 - Lorenzo Alexander
27 - Kyle Boller
26 - Chase Lyman
25 - Tim Mixon (18 on first try)
23 - Lavelle Hawkins
15 - Deltha O’Neal
14 - JJ Arrington
12 - Geoff Mcarthur
10 - Brandon Mebane
*I can’t find a second source for ML’s ‘42′, but doesn’t change the school order either way. Note large jumps in score are common during retests. (wait, is it racist that I’m even questioning this?)
(Note from Avinash: Well, Deltha O’Neal panned out well. So did Marshawn. Are Rodgers, Decoud and Forsett going to hold up their side of the curve?)
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8 months ago
I got 8 correct, for a 44 on the Wonderlic. Hopefully that means NFL teams will overlook my size (6'0", 190), lack of speed (4.9 40 time, in high school) and strength (0 reps at my Pro Day) and consider me a late rounder in the 2009 draft.
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