One of the drills at the NFL Combine is the Wonderlic test. The Wonderlic test measures the general cognitive ability in three areas: math, vocabulary, and reasoning of the draft prospects. The test is composed of 50 multiple choice questions that are to be answered in 12 minutes. Typically, offensive lineman and quarterbacks average the highest scores with running backs / fullbacks and wide receivers averaging the lowest scores.
For this year's test, there were 12 quarterbacks to take the test. LSU prospect and projected No.1 pick Joe Burrow scored a 34, which ranks third among the QBs to take the test. On the flip side, Alabama prospect Tua Tagovailoa scored a 13. That was the lowest score among the QBs to take the test.
Here a look at the list of quarterback scores on the Wonderlic test (from CBS Sports):
Nate Stanley (Iowa): 40
Jake Fromm (Georgia); 35
Joe Burrow (LSU): 34
Jake Luton (Oregon State): 29
Jordan Love (Utah State): 27
Justin Herbert (Oregon): 25
Anthony Gordon (Washington State): 25
Brian Lewerke (Michigan State): 25
Jacob Eason (Washington): 23
James Morgan (Florida International): 23
Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma): 18
Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama): 13
In case you were wondering, only one player has ever scored a perfect 50 on the Wonderlic and that was Punter Pat McInally who was a fifth-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1975 draft.
Wondelic scores don't mean much, if anything to how a prospect's career will turn out in the NFL. Lamar Jackson scored a 13 and Jim Kelly and Dan Marino both scored a 15 while Ryan Fitzpatrick scored a 48 and finished in a record time of nine minutes (shocker that this comes from the Harvard guy).
There are a number of players who scored very well on the test who went on to have poor careers in the NFL and vice-versa.
A poor Wonderlic score plus the injury history of Tua could send teams running or it could not have any sort of impact on his draft status. We have one week until we find out.