Greg McElroy Wonderlic Score: Ranking the 10 Smartest QBs in College Football
Greg McElroy didn't surprise me.
The former Alabama quarterback apparently turned the infamous wonderlic test into a joke by scoring 48 out of a possible 50 points, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Back when I worked for the Star-Telegram, I covered McElroy during his one year as a starter at Southlake Carroll, then a national powerhouse. Like many other starters on the team, McElroy wasn't just a sharp athlete, but he also was incredibly intelligent. Starters went on to SMU, Rice, Vanderbilt, Georgetown and Texas—incredible academic schools.
Now the talk is floating around that McElroy's intelligence could hurt his draft stock, which is the most absurd thing imaginable ("Yes, we've got to pass on him. We need to stock up on stupid players.").
It got me to thinking, though: Who are the smartest quarterbacks in college football?
These 10 caught my attention:
10. Denard Robinson, Michigan
1 of 10
Couldn't find anything about the kid's book smarts, but I've got to stick Denard on here for the simple fact that when you're that dynamic of a playmaker and teams know what you do and still can't stop you?! Yeah, you've got football smarts.
Robinson had a record-breaking season last year, throwing for 2,570 yards and rushing for 1,702. Total touchdowns? Try 32.
It's too bad Michigan wasn't any better, because he would be right in the thick of the Heisman conversation this fall.
9. Ryan Becker, Penn
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Nothing wrong with extending some love to Ivy League players. If we're talking smarts, I think they qualify for this discussion.
Becker transferred from Florida State, where he was enrolled during the 2009 season.
As a freshman last year, Becker played in nine games, starting two. He completed 44 of 76 passes, with four interceptions, for 548 yards and two touchdowns.
According to his bio on the school's website, Becker's enrolled in the prestigious Wharton School, which is pretty much the gold standard of business schools worldwide.
8. Jordan Wynn, Utah
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Wynn graduated high school early and enrolled in the spring of 2009.
He became just the third true freshman to start at quarterback for the Utes since freshman eligibility was restored by the NCAA in 1972. After being named the MVP in the Poinsettia Bowl in 2009, Wynn completed 62 percent of his passes for 2,334 yards and 17 touchdowns last season.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
7. Darron Thomas, Oregon
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If you are able to run Chip Kelly's up-tempo, complicated offense like Thomas does, you've got to be fairly smart.
Thomas helped lead the Ducks to a spot in last year's BCS National Championship Game against Auburn. He completed 222 of 361 passes, with nine interceptions, for 2,881 yards and 30 touchdowns. He had a quarterback rating of 151.0.
6. Matt Barkley, USC
5 of 10
To come into a national powerhouse and start from the time you set foot on campus is impressive.
Barkley, who has a 3.11 GPA, threw for 2,791 yards and 26 touchdowns last season for the Trojans. His completion percentage has been over 59 percent the past two years, and Barkley will be among the nation's top quarterbacks, talent-wise, who are returning.
"He's an unusual quarterback," former USC coach Pete Carroll said. "He's so far ahead of the curve, that it's hard to predict what he's going to be able to do...This is not a typical kid...There aren't too many throws he can't make."
5. Trent Steelman, Army
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All you football snobs relax (I can just see it now. USC fans and others getting riled up cause Barkley is below an Army quarterback). Think about it for a second: You can't exactly be dumb and start at a service academy.
Steelman, who's going to be a senior, was the first freshman to start a season opener at quarterback for Army since 1944. This year, he finished with 1,716 total yards, threw only three interceptions and scored 16 total touchdowns.
I've got a feeling this kid's pretty sharp, too: Two relatives served in the armed forces, and he had a great uncle who was a U.S. Counselor General in the Nixon administration and who had also served as an interpreter in the Nurenberg Trials in World War II.
4. Tim Jefferson, Air Force
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For starters, it can't be easy to run the triple option, which is what Jefferson has operated in.
Jefferson is also hoping to enter pilot training after he graduates, and as a kid, he played the trombone for seven years. I think he qualifies to be on this list, don't you?
Last season, Jefferson threw for 1,459 yards, while also finishing with 154 carries for 794 yards and scoring 25 total touchdowns.
3. Tanner Price, Wake Forest
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As a freshman last season, Price completed 137 of 241 passes, with eight interceptions, for 1,349 yards and seven touchdowns.
Why does he make it? Well, take a look at the schools he chose Wake Forest over: Stanford, Rice, Tulsa, Louisiana Tech, Columbia, Harvard and Dartmouth.
Not exactly your local community colleges.
2. Kellen Moore, Boise State
9 of 10
Moore should challenge Stanford's Andrew Luck for the Heisman this fall.
Last year, Moore completed just over 71 percent of his passes for 3,845 yards and 35 touchdowns. He also was a second-team Academic All-American with a 3.39 GPA in Communication.
Good grades for an elite-level quarterback? This is just the spot for Moore on this list.
1. Andrew Luck, Stanford
10 of 10
Do you really want to argue this one?
I can hear some of you now saying he's not too smart to turn down potentially $50 million as the No.1 pick in this year's draft. I refer back to Sam Bradford and say if Luck is that good, he'll be right back in the same spot in 2012. Plus he'll have a Stanford degree.
Luck, who threw for 3,338 yards and 32 touchdowns, is majoring in architectural design.
"He’s someone doing something that conventional wisdom says is not the thing to do," Stanford coach David Shaw told the New York Times.
"But the people here say, 'I understand.'"
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
