Is the Wonderlic an Intelligence Test?

A few thoughts on an article discussing the Wonderlic Test scores of NFL quarterbacks, including Terry Bradshaw, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Vince Young, Eli and Peyton Manning, and Donovan McNabb: http://blackathlete.net/artman2/publish/Football_7/Conversion_Rate.shtml.

Thanks to Miranda over at TSF for providing the link.

Those test scores are pulling out something discernible to me. I don’t believe its intelligence, though. The data shows there are some compelling common threads between these players.

Among the low-scorers identified in the article, only Bradshaw has Super Bowl rings. The first two were won largely by the defense, even though he was spectacular in SB X (Swann was MVP). By the time they played SB XIII, the Steelers had the top offense in the league and were accomplished bombers.

Second, these guys all have cannon arms. Not a single one of these players had less than an A-grade arm. Their accuracy differed, but with respect to strength, you couldn’t pull another group of QBs with stronger arms than Bradshaw, Dan Marino, Jeff George, Mac 5, McNair, Vince Young, and Jim Kelly.

Third, each of these players had the reputation for winning games single-handedly. Many of these players did it with their legs, but each was known for being able to do whatever he wanted on the field. This is a Superman list with respect to physical ability.

I’m sure there is someone, somewhere who still swears by this stuff. Obviously, if this system causes you to pass up guys like Marino, Kelly, McNabb, McNair, and others, there are huge problems.

I’m wondering if those Wonderlic scores are actually isolating a different measure, like a sense of needing others to succeed or some other quality. The article doesn’t go into sufficient detail to give you a sense of the right brain-left brain components of the test. I would guess its weighted strongly to one side—the left brain.

A right-brain player sees the big picture and is capable of implementing a game plan where he bears full responsibility for the outcome. Right-brain players are not system QBs. They transcend systems; they’re bigger and better than systems and they give defenses fits.

Eli Manning is a system QB. Peyton is a system QB (it’s his system, but he’s a system QB). Brady is a system QB. Montana was a system QB. I would not be surprised to see players who have excelled in systems do well on this exam.

I believe these SuperMan QBs are largely right-brain players who see the big picture. Roethlisberger plays like a right-brain QB. So did Elway. I believe Steve Young may have been the pinnacle of bridging both approaches to the game (that’s why he has the highest passer rating of any QB in league history).

When you think back about all the plays you remember from these various players, most of the guys with high scores appear to be system QBs. tTey’re the guys who throw the ball away when the play breaks down.

The right brain guys don’t do that. They don’t always go through their progressions (at least not when they’re young; when they get older, they get much better). Right brain guys tend to try to keep the play alive because they believe (rightly or wrongly) that they can make something happen, either with their feet or their patience or some skill they’ve picked up along the way.

I would be willing to bet that there is a fairly skewed distribution of QBs along this Wonderlic scale. I’d love to see the numbers and see how closely it corresponds to other metrics. “Scrambling yards” isn’t the best metric; I don’t have a substitute, but the question is worth entertaining.

The Wonderlic test may be measuring something entirely different than what people think. I suspect that the most successful QBs may score right around the middle—as long as they're on a team with a solid system.

The middle ground players are probably able to do a bit of both. The middle ground distribution may be as “low” as 12 (especially if Marino, Kelly and Bradshaw scored 15s, assuming they didn’t just blow the thing off.) and as high as 28 (Peyton Manning’s score).

So, if you looked at the Wonderlic Test as a distribution, you’d have:

High Scorers: 40 - 29
Mid Scorers: 28 - 12
Low Scorers: 11 - 0

Of course, with any test, there are going to be exceptions. I’d love to know where the rings are clustered on that list.