Videos by OutKick
According to an Associated Press report released Wednesday, the NFL has plans to eliminate the Wonderlic test for prospective draft picks who are typically asked to take the cognitive ability test that measures intelligence.
Removing the Wonderlic from the Combine is just one change that the league will institute in 2022, the AP reports. Combine drills will be updated for wide receivers and tight ends to test crossing route speeds instead of wheel routes. Running backs will be tested on option routes instead of corners and post routes.
But the big news from the NFL’s changes is definitely the Wonderlic hitting the chopping block. And teams have been warned that unprofessional conduct during interviews with prospective draft picks could result in loss of draft picks.
The AP reports teams have been notified that they will forfeit a pick “between the first and fourth round and be fined a minimum of $150,000” if league officials determine “unprofessional” behavior by team representatives.
What specific type of conduct will result in punishment from the NFL? The AP points to an incident in 2010 where Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland asked Dez Bryant if his mother was a prostitute. Ireland later apologized for that question.
There’s also Dan Quinn asking cornerback Eli Apple about his sexual preference during an interview conducted by the Falcons.
Ben Watson, who scored one of the highest Wonderlic tests in NFL Combine history, says he was interrogated over smoking pot. Watson told the AP how he nearly confessed to a crime he didn’t commit.
The history of the Wonderlic test in the NFL goes back to the 1970s when Tom Landry started using the test. Based on Landry’s use of the test, the NFL started using it at the combine. It didn’t take long before Dan Marino scored a 15 and Ray Lewis scored a 16. Both ended up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Meanwhile, Harvard grads Pat McInally (perfect score) and Ryan Fitzpatrick destroyed the Wonderlic. McInally went on to develop the idea for Starting Lineup figures and eventually went to work for the Wonderlic organization. Fitzpatrick has gone on to make a fortune in the NFL while throwing 223 touchdowns and 169 interceptions.
Combine hero Mike Mamula scored a 49 and was out of the NFL after five seasons.
How will NFL executives determine whether a player is the genius they’ve been looking for or a moron who can turn into a Hall of Famer? It won’t be via the Wonderlic.
Tunji Oki, PhD, a People Analyst at Google, wrote in 2015 that NFL teams could use job knowledge tests or situational judgment tests to determine how an individual would respond in a realistic job scenario. “While a knowledge test on a specific position may be overkill, a knowledge test on the rules, requirements, and policies of the NFL could yield significant predictive value,” Oki notes in his 2015 report.
Before you laugh at testing prospective draft picks on NFL rules, consider the fact that Najee Harris didn’t realize ties existed in the NFL.
One thing is certain: NFL executives will find new ways to test these guys. It’s just a matter of how they determine the perfect testing measures without losing draft picks.
Go here if you’d like to test your Wonderlic abilities against NFL draft picks.
Highest Wonderlic Scores in NFL Combine History (via):
50 — Pat McInally (punter)
49 — Mike Mamula (defensive end)
48 — Kevin Curtis (wide receiver)
48 — Ryan Fitzpatrick (quarterback)
48 — Ben Watson (tight end)
Lowest Wonderlic Scores in NFL Combine History:
6 — Vince Young (quarterback)
6 — Frank Gore (running back)
6 — Oscar Davenport (quarterback)
5 — Ed Prather (safety)
4 — Darren Davis (running back)
4* — Morris Claiborne (later diagnosed to have a learning disability
Highest Wonderlic Scores by NFL Combine Wide Receivers (20 & above):
Kevin Curtis | 48 | WR |
Eric Decker | 43 | WR |
Calvin Johnson | 41 | WR |
Cooper Kupp | 37 | WR |
Demaryius Thomas | 34 | WR |
Jared Abbrederis | 32 | WR |
Corey Davis | 31 | WR |
Jordan Matthews | 29 | WR |
Jordy Nelson | 28 | WR |
Mike Evans | 25 | WR |
Jeremy Maclin | 25 | WR |
Robert Woods | 23 | WR |
Santonio Holmes | 23 | WR |
Andre Johnson | 23 | WR |
Malcolm Kelly | 22 | WR |
Jalen Strong | 22 | WR |
Curtis Samuel | 22 | WR |
Amari Cooper | 21 | WR |
Dorial Green-Beckham | 20 | WR |
Ardarius Stewart | 20 | WR |
Highest Wonderlic Scores by NFL Combine Quarterbacks (25 & above):
Ryan Fitzpatrick | 48 | QB |
Greg McElroy | 48 | QB |
Jason Maas | 43 | QB |
Blaine Gabbert | 42 | QB |
Drew Henson | 42 | QB |
Ryan Nassib | 41 | QB |
Bruce Eugene | 41 | QB |
Hugh Millen | 41 | QB |
Carson Wentz | 40 | QB |
Alex Smith | 40 | QB |
Darrell Hackney | 40 | QB |
Jeff Matthews | 40 | QB |
Sean Mannion | 40 | QB |
Nate Stanley | 40 | QB |
Eli Manning | 39 | QB |
Todd Husak | 39 | QB |
Brian Griese | 39 | QB |
Matthew Stafford | 38 | QB |
Colin Kaepernick | 38 | QB |
Matt Flynn | 38 | QB |
Omar Jacobs | 38 | QB |
Charlie Frye | 38 | QB |
Craig Crenzel | 38 | QB |
Scott Frost | 38 | QB |
Kevin Hogan | 38 | QB |
Scott Tolzien | 38 | QB |
Josh Allen | 37 | QB |
Akili Smith | 37 | QB |
Tony Romo | 37 | QB |
Andrew Luck | 37 | QB |
Travis Lulay | 37 | QB |
Marques Hagans | 37 | QB |
Chuck Hartlieb | 37 | QB |
Jared Goff | 36 | QB |
Sam Bradford | 36 | QB |
Justin Holland | 36 | QB |
Drew Bledsoe | 36 | QB |
Jason Garrett | 36 | QB |
Anthony Dilweg | 36 | QB |
Jared Zabransky | 36 | QB |
Aaron Rodgers | 35 | QB |
Matt Leinart | 35 | QB |
Christian Ponder | 35 | QB |
Kellen Clemens | 35 | QB |
Wes Pate | 35 | QB |
Zak Kustok | 35 | QB |
JT O’Sullivan | 35 | QB |
Ryan lindley | 35 | QB |
Travis Brown | 35 | QB |
John Dutton | 35 | QB |
Steve From | 35 | QB |
Drew Stanton | 35 | QB |
Jake Fromm | 35 | QB |
Craig Ochs | 34 | QB |
Sam Keller | 34 | QB |
Cory Pyles | 34 | QB |
Ryan Tannehill | 34 | QB |
Brad Kaaya | 34 | QB |
Joe Burrow | 34 | QB |
Tom Brady | 33 | QB |
Nathan Peterman | 33 | QB |
Charlie Whitehurst | 33 | QB |
Josh Betts | 33 | QB |
Justin Fuente | 33 | QB |
Mike Elkins | 33 | QB |
Steve Young | 33 | QB |
Marcus Mariota | 33 | QB |
Kirk Cousins | 33 | QB |
Johnny Manziel | 32 | QB |
Matt Ryan | 32 | QB |
Girbran Hamdan | 32 | QB |
Joey Jarrington | 32 | QB |
Patrick Ramsey | 32 | QB |
Jesse Palmer | 32 | QB |
Sage Rosenfels | 32 | QB |
Walter Church | 32 | QB |
Giovanni Carmazza | 32 | QB |
Sam Keenan | 32 | QB |
Kevin Daft | 32 | QB |
Brian Brohm | 32 | QB |
Josh Woodrum | 32 | QB |
Matt Schaub | 31 | QB |
Andrew Walton | 31 | QB |
JP Losman | 31 | QB |
Dave Ragone | 31 | QB |
Kliff Kingsbury | 31 | QB |
Greg Noll | 31 | QB |
Justin Coleman | 31 | QB |
Todd Bandhauer | 31 | QB |
Cody Fajardo | 31 | QB |
Rick Mirer | 31 | QB |
Trent Edwards | 31 | QB |
Connor Halliday | 31 | QB |
Bryce Petty | 31 | QB |
Quincy Carter | 30 | QB |
Phillip Rivers | 30 | QB |
Ricky Stanzi | 30 | QB |
Ingle Martin | 30 | QB |
Josh Haldi | 30 | QB |
Stefan Lefors | 30 | QB |
Trevor Knight | 30 | QB |
Gino Guigudli | 30 | QB |
Matt Mauck | 30 | QB |
Scott Rislov | 30 | QB |
Daniel Cobb | 30 | QB |
Josh McCown | 30 | QB |
Darnell Kennedy | 30 | QB |
Matt Barkley | 30 | QB |
Josh Siple | 30 | QB |
Bill Burke | 30 | QB |
David Klingler | 30 | QB |
John Beck | 30 | QB |
Zach Mettenberger | 30 | QB |
Josh Rosen | 29 | QB |
Troy Aikman | 29 | QB |
Brady Quinn | 29 | QB |
John Elway | 29 | QB |
Andy Dalton | 29 | QB |
Rex Grossman | 29 | QB |
Chris Weinke | 29 | QB |
Marc Bulger | 29 | QB |
Jeff Driskel | 29 | QB |
Nick Foles | 29 | QB |
Josh Dobbs | 29 | QB |
Brian Cook Click | 29 | QB |
Matt Hasselbeck | 29 | QB |
Bill Musgrave | 29 | QB |
Dennis Dixon | 29 | QB |
Jimmy Garoppolo | 29 | QB |
Logan Thomas | 29 | QB |
Keith Wenning | 29 | QB |
Tom Savage | 29 | QB |
Aaron Murray | 29 | QB |
Jake Luton | 29 | QB |
Sam Darnold | 28 | QB |
Blake Bortles | 28 | QB |
Mark Sanchez | 28 | QB |
Juston Wood | 28 | QB |
Brooks Bollinger | 28 | QB |
Seth Burford | 28 | QB |
George Godsey | 28 | QB |
Drew Brees | 28 | QB |
Caitlin Down | 28 | QB |
Peyton Manning | 28 | QB |
Kevin Kolb | 28 | QB |
Matt Gutierrez | 28 | QB |
Deshone Kizer | 28 | QB |
EJ Manuel | 28 | QB |
Russell Wilson | 28 | QB |
Nate Sudfeld | 28 | QB |
Landry Jones | 28 | QB |
Josh Freeman | 27 | QB |
Joe Flacco | 27 | QB |
Dustin Long | 27 | QB |
Kyle Boller | 27 | QB |
Brian St. Pierre | 27 | QB |
Kirk Farmer | 27 | QB |
Jason Guesser | 27 | QB |
Brandon Dillman | 27 | QB |
Jameis Winston | 27 | QB |
Jonathan Smith | 27 | QB |
Aaron Smith | 27 | QB |
Mike McMahon | 27 | QB |
David Rivers | 27 | QB |
Josh Booty | 27 | QB |
Tim Mckay | 27 | QB |
Chris Greeson | 27 | QB |
Ryan Leaf | 27 | QB |
Kelly Stouffer | 27 | QB |
Rich Gannon | 27 | QB |
Alex Brink | 27 | QB |
Brandon Weeden | 27 | QB |
Jordan Love | 27 | QB |
Carson Palmer | 26 | QB |
Jay Cutler | 26 | QB |
Kyle Orton | 26 | QB |
C.J. Beathard | 26 | QB |
Ryan Mallett | 26 | QB |
Dan Orlovsky | 26 | QB |
Brett Hundley | 26 | QB |
Adrian Mcpherson | 26 | QB |
Kellen Moore | 26 | QB |
Jason White | 26 | QB |
Timmy Chang | 26 | QB |
Jason Fife | 26 | QB |
Jared Lorenzen | 26 | QB |
Major Applewhite | 26 | QB |
Tim Lester | 26 | QB |
Akili Smith | 26 | QB |
Rodney Peete | 26 | QB |
Mike Glennon | 26 | QB |
Baker Mayfield | 25 | QB |
Ben Roethlisberger | 25 | QB |
Chad Pennington | 25 | QB |
Colt McCoy | 25 | QB |
Cardale Jones | 25 | QB |
Shane Carden | 25 | QB |
Ben Dougherty | 25 | QB |
Casey Bramlett | 25 | QB |
Bradley Van Pelt | 25 | QB |
Byron Leftwich | 25 | QB |
Ken Dorsey | 25 | QB |
Dak Prescott | 25 | QB |
David Neal | 25 | QB |
Randy Fasani | 25 | QB |
Davis Webb | 25 | QB |
Mitchell Trubisky | 25 | QB |
Shaun Hill | 25 | QB |
Connor Cook | 25 | QB |
Brock Osweiler | 25 | QB |
Shane Griggs | 25 | QB |
Josh Harris | 25 | QB |
Spurgeon Wynn | 25 | QB |
Brock Huard | 25 | QB |
Joe Jermaine | 25 | QB |
Shaun King | 25 | QB |
Justin Herbert | 39 | QB |
Anthony Gordon | 25 | QB |
Brian lewerke | 25 | QB |
Highest Wonderlic Scores by NFL Combine Running Backs (20 & above):
Zach Zenner | 35 | RB |
Dare Ogunbowale | 35 | RB |
Ezekiel Elliott | 32 | RB |
Danny Woodhead | 29 | RB |
Charles Scott | 26 | RB |
Giovani Bernard | 25 | RB |
Anthony Dixon | 25 | RB |
Arian Foster | 25 | RB |
Jerick Mckinnon | 24 | RB |
Alvin Kamara | 24 | RB |
Jahvid Best | 24 | RB |
Lawrence Phillips | 23 | RB |
Andre Williams | 23 | RB |
Jeremy Hill | 22 | RB |
Christian McCaffrey | 21 | RB |
Donnel Pumphrey | 21 | RB |
Jonathan Stewart | 20 | RB |
Melvin Gordon | 20 | RB |
Corey Clement | 20 | RB |
Highest Wonderlic Scores by NFL Combine Linebackers (20 & above):
Pete Kendall | 41 | LB |
Luke Kuechly | 34 | LB |
Shayne Skov | 34 | LB |
Chris Borland | 32 | LB |
Max Bullouch | 31 | LB |
Terrell Suggs | 31 | LB |
Keenan Robinson | 29 | LB |
T.J. Watt | 29 | LB |
Anthony Walker | 29 | LB |
Anthony Barr | 28 | LB |
Raekwon McMillan | 28 | LB |
John Mobley | 27 | LB |
Clay Matthews | 27 | LB |
Alex Anzalone | 26 | LB |
Regan Upshaw | 24 | LB |
Kevin Pierre-Louis | 24 | LB |
Terrell Manning | 23 | LB |
Charles Harris | 23 | LB |
Alex Moulden | 23 | LB |
Brian Cushing | 23 | LB |
Vince Biegel | 23 | LB |
Jarrad Davis | 23 | LB |
Reggie Brown | 22 | LB |
Zach Cunningham | 22 | LB |
Kevin Hardy | 21 | LB |
Jarrad Davis | 21 | LB |
Haason Reddick | 21 | LB |
Ryan Shazier | 20 | LB |
Demarcus Lawrence | 20 | LB |
First, that list of lowest scores ever, only Frank Gore did anything in the NFL.
Second, the test is obviously racist, a high percentage of the quarterbacks listed are/were white.
There’s nothing racist about the test. It’s not like smart white boys are going to take over the NFL or the qb position. Don’t look for excuses come out and compete against other grown ass men or STFU…It’s really that simple.
Remember what Taco asked those girls about the test on The League.
It must be racist right? That’s the only reason to change this.