McFadden Scores

I would put no Stock in Wonderlic scores. All it proves is if your not playing football your smart enough not be flipping burgers.

 

Exactly. If anything there needs to be a Football IQ test. Then maybe it would hold more water.

 

I beg to differ. I don't much care about how good or worse my running back scores because quite frankly no one is going to be interested in the Wonderlic scores of running backs, but when it comes to safeties, quarterbacks or offensive linemen, I'm very critical of bad results. Players on these positions are expected to rank higher by the scouts; and the Wonderlic sure isn't rocket science. If a safety gets a bad score, it doesn't necessarily tell me that he's not going to be able to make the secondary calls. But it does tell me that although he knew the scouts were going to be all over the test he didn't bother preparing for it. And that tells me about his work ethic.

It's the same thing with other combine workouts. A scout doesn't need to see Chris Long run a great 40 or Jake Long doing I don't know how many reps. They know that from the gametape anyway. But if a guy matches or exceeds my expectations, I know that he's worked hard and was doing everything in his might to raise his draft stock. That's a good sign. If, on the other hand, a player doesn't meet expectations in a crucial category, I would be a bad scout if I didn't wonder why that happened. Didn't he work hard enough although he had to know he was expected to do better? That's always a red flag right there. Maybe not a huge one, but more then enough to put "no stock" in the result.

 

I agree, I put no value in the wonderlic...Dan MArino only scored a 16, and we all known how bad his career was right.

 

While I agree to some extent that it shows somewhat their work ethic you have to take an account if their not good at studying or preparing for tests.

If I was a Scout I would personally ask Coaches what this player did in his free time, was he the first person at practice last one to leave? Questions like that.

 

Marino isn't necessarily a good example. The game has evolved a lot since he was drafted both in terms of playbook complexity and defense/blitzing schemes. Nowadays a team is asking its quarterback to do a lot more than teams did back in 1984. I'm pretty sure that if Marino entered the draft today and scored a 16, a lot of teams would be a bit worried. Not because he wasn't the brightest tool in the shed but because they'd be concerned whether or not he'd be able to wholly understand a complex, modern-day playbook

Fair point. But wouldn't you say that a guy who's no good at studying isn't exactly the kind of guy you'd want to trust your calls - or your offense for that matter - to? In a complex defensive scheme, the safety making the calls has to know an awful lot of plays and coverages by heart. Only way to memorize those is by studying them. So if the guy I'd like to take over these duties has problems studying, wouldn't it be resonable to wonder whether or not he's really the guy?

Again, I wouldn't discard a player simply because of his Wonderlic. But I definitely would grade him lower on my board if I thought he had troubles taking over the duties my scheme demands of his position. Either he didn't work hard enough or he did and still came up short. Both are legitimate reasons for concern in my opinion.

We do have the prime example of such a player on our roster: Jason Allen. Here's a guy who has all the athletic ability in the world but has major troubles recognizing how a play is going to unfold. That doesn't make him a bad football player but he never was a first round pick in my book.

 

McFadden Wonderlic below average
The News
The New York Times reports that Arkansas RB Darren McFadden scored a 17 on the Wonderlic Exam.

Our View
Regardless of what people will tell you, this is not the score NFL coaches want to see from No. 1 draft picks.
http://www.fanballnews.com/nfl/

 

IMO The Wonderlic should be a timed problem solving test. A test that requires you to think, but doesn't contain math formulas, or other things you would have learned in school.

If you load it with problem solving questions you get an understanding of how well they can dissect information in a pressure situation.

 

the wonderlic test is stupid it is just another thing people add to make them think they are learning something about a player

 

im all for Mcfadden's stock staying put or rising in anyway possible.

 

All I'm saying is I don't put too much stock in an IQ test. I would ask Football IQ questions if I'm talking to a player or ask his coaches how he understands the game.