Mar 11, 2010

The Wonderlic Test: How Would You Score? Better than Tebow?

Ah, the Wonderlic Test -- my favorite part of the NFL draft evaluations. Prospects are given 12 minutes to answer 50 multiple choice questions. The average score has been reported as 21 for NFL players and 24 for people of various professions. Although such tests never give a perfectly accurate picture of the intelligence of a person (or player), I think a very high or low score can portray who's exceptionally quick, and who's exceptionally thick.

Last year Matthew Stafford was the cream of the crop with his 38 out of 50 score, while Percy Harvin was ridiculed for posting a meager 12.

This year, Tim Tebow (unsurprisingly) scored a 22, the lowest of the other top quarterback prospects. Colt McCoy (25) and Jimmy Clausen (23) weren't far ahead, while Sam Bradford was this year's savant with a 36. According to Wikipedia, the average NFL QB score is a 24.

Apparently, the scores for other positions haven't yet been leaked, so I anxiously await to hear who scored in the teens and the single digits.

So how hard exactly is this test? Judging from sample Wonderlic tests I've seen, the questions are relatively simple for the average person, but the fact that the test is timed can probably affect some slower thinkers. It's also likely that the players who score very low also were incorrect on some, if not many, of the questions they did answer.

How well would you do on the Wonderlic test?
Here's a sample Wonderlic test with only 20 questions. Set a timer to 5 minutes, answer as many questions as you can, and multiply your correct answers by 2.5 to see what you would score. Of course this isn't exactly the same as the real test, plus I've read that NFL prospects get to take the test twice to improve their score. Vote in the poll to show how you did.

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