2011 NFL Draft: Predicting Which Players Will Score Lowest on the Wonderlic Test
The 2011 NFL Draft is continuing to inch closer, and more to the point, the draft combine is set to begin. Perhaps the most important time between now and the draft, the combine is the time that NFL teams can really get a good look at the prospects available to see which ones live up to scrutiny.
One part of the combine that some teams will look at closely is the Wonderlic Test. The Wonderlic measures a player's intelligence by having them answer 50 questions in a short time. Depending on who you ask, the Wonderlic is either valuable or entirely useless. Likewise, it is very difficult to determine how many players will score on it, unless they have academic honors (certainly Stanford's Owen Marecic will score 35+).
Here are ten players who could post poor Wonderlic scores.
Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
1 of 10
Cam Newton is the person whose Wonderlic will come under the most scrutiny, whether that's justified or not. The reason I have him on this list stems entirely from the problems at Florida.
As a backup to Tim Tebow, instances of cheating were found and he was set to be expelled before he transferred. Someone who has to cheat on an exam or paper is almost guaranteed to struggle with the Wonderlic.
Greg Jones, ILB, Michigan State
2 of 10
It seems that Jones is continuing to fall down the draft rankings. He was set to go so much higher at the start of the college football season, but is now a pick at the end of the second round.
Everything else seems to be going poorly for him, and a poor Wonderlic score is not out of the question as a result. While there may not be much to indicate that he would fare poorly, I haven't found anything that would prove he'll do well either.
Allen Bradford, RB, USC
3 of 10
Bradford has been the longtime running back of the Trojans, and USC fans will remember his amazing game against UCLA for a long time. He's a punishing running back who could be a late-round pickup.
While the combine should help him out, running backs tend to score lowest on Wonderlic exams, and he strikes me as the type of guy who would be focused directly on improving speed and endurance, rather than worrying about a test, leading to a likely poor score.
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Terrence Toliver, WR, LSU
4 of 10
Part of this is a gut feeling on him. Perhaps ironically, his offensive ally Stevan Ridley will probably have one of the best running back Wonderlic scores in the draft, while Toliver, who's looking to get into the first couple rounds, may need this more.
He strikes me as a guy who will be concentrating on the physical aspect of the combine like Bradford, so the Wonderlic may be pushed aside. Wide receivers tend to score quite low here anyway since the Wonderlic isn't important for that position.
Nick Fairley, DT, Auburn
5 of 10
From what I've read up on, Fairley scoring low on the Wonderlic seems to already be accepted. A score that manages to hit double digits would actually be considered impressive. After all, that's not why teams are going to be looking at him in the draft.
When people accept that you're going to do poorly on the Wonderlic before the combine even starts, yet you're still a top prospect, then there's no reason to get prepared for it anyway, making a low score all but certain.
Bilal Powell, RB, Louisville
6 of 10
Powell is a solid running back who had an amazing year at Louisville. He ran for 1400 yards and is looking to be taken ideally in the top half of the draft. Why is he on this list then?
Aside from running backs usually performing poorly, Powell has had a troubling past, so much so that it's actually an amazing story. In high school, he ran with gangs, had a nonexistent GPA and had been stabbed in a fight. He may perform poorly on the Wonderlic, but it won't matter, he's overcome enough.
Da'Quan Bowers, DE, Clemson
7 of 10
The man who has decided he will only lift at the Scouting Combine, Bowers has already been compared to Fairley in many aspects of his game. Nick Fairley has already been acknowledged as someone who will have a poor score and Bowers seems like he would as well.
It doesn't matter if he has a poor Wonderlic score anyway, since he is a consensus top five pick, and that's where he'll end up going.
Adrian Clayborn, DE, Iowa
8 of 10
I'm a bit wary of Iowa football after all the offseason issues they've had to begin with, and Claybown is another player who is going to be concentrating on the aspects that don't deal with as much mentally.
What puts him on this list, however, is what he said on his Twitter: "going over wonderlic, psychology test and interview questions with BG today....some of these questions I'm like are u serious".
This doesn't sound like a big deal on the surface, but if he seems iffy about the Wonderlic or the interview, then he'll be concentrating on the latter anyway, since he likely knows the Wonderlic's not too big of a deal for him.
Jerrell Powe, DT, Mississippi
9 of 10
Jerrell Powe is a prospect that seems under-the-radar, and is projected to be around a third-round pick. Still, rumors can be damaging to a player, and one that Powe can't read seems surprisingly prevalent.
While that is not true, he was at one point ruled academically ineligible. That's virtually an admission that the player is going to do poorly on a Wonderlic exam. Whoever drafts him won't be looking at that score, though—they'll be looking at that frame.
Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas
10 of 10
The last player on this list is another quarterback whose performance on the Wonderlic will be scrutinized big time. Ryan Mallett has been labeled both as a player who will do surprisingly well or surprisingly awful on the test depending on who you ask.
While Bobby Petrino's offenses are not exactly simple, Mallett is known for his arm rather than his mind, and I just can't see him doing very well on the test, especially compared to many quarterbacks in this draft expected to get high scores, such as Colin Kaepernick, Greg McElroy and others.
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