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10:52:00 AM EST
Hearing Franz Ferdinand
Vince Young May Have Bombed the Wonderlic
While many are still hyping the 2006 NFL Draft as a battle between Young vs. Leinart for the honor of being the first QB selected, things aren't looking good for Vince. First, Young was ridiculously ranked the 6th-best QB in this draft by GM Jr. scouting services. Then NFL experts Chris Mortensen (ESPN) and Don Banks (SI) surprisingly said Vandy QB Jay Cutler will be the 2nd QB taken. And now Pro Football Talk shockingly reports that Young scored a 6 on the Wonderlic test at this weekend's NFL Scouting Combine.
Note: Read the updates at the bottom of this post for the whole story.
While Pro Football Talk is an online rumor mill that may not be the most reliable source, the last story from them that caught my attention was the Bengals locker room scuffle during their Wild Card game with Pittsburgh. That story was dismissed at first but confirmed in print three or four days later. So Vince-scoring-a-6 could certainly be for real, and let's turn to The Wizard of Odds to tells us what it means:
"The average score for a player at the combine is 19. The average score overall — hundreds of corporations use the Wonderlic — is 21. But a score under 10 is an indication of literacy problems. Former Iowa State running back Darren Davis reportedly has the record for lowest score, a 4. Former Florida State kicker Sebastian Janikowski reportedly got a 9."
Wow. So in addition to throwing like Uncle Rico and having to adjust to taking snaps from directly under center, Vince may be really dumb to boot. Intelligence isn't everything in the NFL -- Dexter Manley couldn't read the playbook yet racked up 97 career sacks -- but being an NFL quarterback is another story altogether. You have to be the smartest guy on the field, or at least it helps to be the smartest. If Vince really did score a 6, it probably breaks his chances of going top-five and could push him out of the first round altogether.
Personally, I can't shake the images of Young in the last two Rose Bowls, dominating the best players in college football on its biggest stage with his arm and legs, brains and brawn. I think he'll be a QB like none other in NFL history and should be the first signal-caller selected in this draft. But that's just reason #1,322 why I'm a fan and not an NFL GM. Good luck to the guy.
Update: Via Deadspin's comments, the Nashville Tennessean also reports that Vince scored a 6 and sheds further light on the situation...
"Players are allowed to take the test multiple times, so Young could take the test again. Word is USC quarterback Matt Leinart scored a 35 on the test, while the results for Vanderbilt QB Jay Cutler were unknown. Cutler scored in the upper-20s on the test before the NFL Combine."
Update: Pro Football Talk reports that Young's Wonderlic got screwed up and that his score remains to be seen...
"Combine officials, we're told, have re-scored the Young's test and the test of all other players who took it in his group. NFL teams will get the official Wonderlic results for all players later in the week... Whether the actual number was 6 or 50 or something in between remains to be seen."
Update: Via Deadspin, the Houston Chronicle reports that Young took the test again and scored a 16.
Written by dcsportsguy Blog about this entry |
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Wasn't that six questions correct, rather than a score of six? According to Wonderlic scoring prcedure, the score then would be 25/9 * 6. This would translate to roughly 17. Not a great score, but much better than the irresponsibly reported score of 6. I guess the writer of this article couldn't multiply fractions. Maybe we're questioning the wrong guys intelligence here.
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Bottom line...Vince Young wll be a great NFL player. In Atlanta, we've seen how good Michael Vick can be. The only problem is Vick does not seem to be getting any better, and in fact, did not have a very good year in 2005. Whether or not this has anything at all to do with Vick's reported Wonderlic score (I've seen 16 reported), I have no idea, but I think such a test might be indicative of ones ability to learn and adjust over the years. It would at least have to be in the back of my mind if I were a GM and trying to pick between 2 players of similar skills.
Good Luck to Vince. I'm a fan and he's fun to watch. -
Some people just don't know what they are talking about. If you want to call rushing/ running "scrambling" thats fine. He only "scrambeled" for 200 yards and completed 30-40 passes for 200 yards @ the Rose bowl and he had a total of over 3000 passing yards this year.- but you're right...... he cant throw. I think you are a bitter USC fan.
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I think Vince Young is very overrated! The guy can't throw from under center, hell he can barely throw at all. Remember, he won both Rose Bowl games by scrambling.
I love how everyone makes a big deal when he completes a pass in the flat. They treat it as though he's finishing third in the special olympics. (Mack Brown provides the hugs as he crosses the finish line)
Leadership and poise are great, but you still have to deliver the ball. (BTW - I am not some bitter USC fan. I rank college football between "quarters" and "I never", it's just another reason to drink on Saturday.
4/15/06 11:57 PM