Use in the NFL CombineThough used in a variety of institutions, the Wonderlic test has become best known for its use in the NFL pre-draft assessments of prospective football players.
This assessment roughly corresponds to examples from Paul Zimmerman's The New Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football. According to Zimmerman, examples of average scores for each position are:
Offensive tackle – 26
Center – 25
Quarterback – 24 (Most teams want at least 21 for a quarterback.)[6]
Guard – 23
Tight end – 22
Safety – 19
Linebacker – 19
Cornerback – 18
Wide receiver – 17
Fullback – 17
Halfback – 16
Pat McInally, a graduate of Harvard University is the only football player to record a confirmed perfect score of 50.[7] Ryan Fitzpatrick, also a Harvard graduate and currently a quarterback with the NFL Buffalo Bills, had also been rumored to have scored a perfect 50 points in only nine minutes.[8] However, Fitzpatrick denied this, saying that he had left at least one of the 50 answer spaces blank.[9] The Wall Street Journal later reported that Fitzpatrick's actual score was 48 but that Fitzpatrick's claim of completing the Wonderlic in only nine minutes was accurate (this report appeared in the September 30, 2005 edition of the WSJ in the Weekend Section). As of 2005, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Kevin Curtis, a graduate of Utah State University, was reported to be tied with Fitzpatrick and Benjamin Watson of the Cleveland Browns as having scored a 48, the highest Wonderlic score of any active NFL player.[10] In 2011, Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Greg McElroy was believed to have scored a 48, but it was quickly discovered that he only scored a still impressive 43.[11] During the 2009 Combine NFL Network's Rich Eisen mentioned that Boston College graduate Mike Mamula, a 1995 draftee, scored a 49; USA Today has also reported on this claim.[12]
On the other hand, some high profile players have scored rather low on the test. Dan Marino and Vince Young both scored 16 on the test, though Vince Young scored a 6 on his first attempt.[13] Marcus Vick, brother of Michael Vick, scored 11. Michael himself scored a 20.
A study[14] by McDonald Mirabile has shown that there is no significant correlation between Wonderlic scores and a quarterback's passer rating, and no significant correlation between Wonderlic scores and a quarterback's salary.
Similarly, a study[15] by Brian D. Lyons, Brian J. Hoffman, and John W. Michel found that Wonderlic test scores failed to positively and significantly predict future NFL performance for any position. The Lyons et al. (2009) study also found that the relationship between Wonderlic test scores and future NFL performance was negative for a few positions, indicating the higher a player scores on the Wonderlic test, the worse the player will perform in the NFL. Results from this study were recently highlighted in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article by D. Orlando Ledbetter[16].
Writing in Sports Illustrated, John P. Lopez proposes a 26-27-60 rule to predict a quarterback's success in the NFL: at least a 26 on the Wonderlic, at least 27 college starts, and at least 60% pass completion, and lists several examples of successes and failures based on the rule.[17]
...bottom line is fitzy is smart as hell