NFL rumors: S2 cognitive test results leaked for top QB prospects … or were they?

April 22, 2023 ndowd

The S2 cognitive test results supposedly leaked for major NFL Draft prospects … or did they?

It is so important to gather as much information as you can get before making potentially franchise-altering decisions in the NFL Draft.

While the measurables from the Scouting Combine, as well as tape from the college games, will play a huge part in if a player is drafted by a team or not, you can never overlook the intangibles. Whether it is an awkward 15-minute meeting in Indianapolis, a top-30 visit, a grit test or the good, old-fashioned Wonderlic, teams want to know a guy’s mental makeup before drafting him.

So when news of the S2 results being leaked on Friday first surfaced, it had our collective attention. These are the score each of the notable quarterback draft prospect got on their tests.

Update: The S2 Cognition test results for the 2023 QB Draft class, per @BobMcGinn:

Bryce Young – 98%
Jake Haener – 96%
Will Levis – 93%
Jaren Hall – 93%
Clayton Tune – 84%
Anthony Richardson – 79%
Hendon Hooker – 46%
CJ Stroud – 18%

(@ShanePHallam) pic.twitter.com/UEtFkFkBja

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 21, 2023

While nobody is batting an eyelash at Alabama’s Bryce Young ranking high, seeing Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud way below the rest of the pack is alarming. Then again, these numbers could be false…

The founder of the S2 test was on a PFF podcast and said the leaks from the scores are fake…so do with that info what you will…

Surely teams aren’t leaking false information to get prospects to drop or rise…

— Landon Oliver (@Landon3MR) April 21, 2023

The whole point of the S2 is that only a maximum of two teams in each division can have this data, so the service can readily tell where any potential leaks are coming from. Oh, this is juicy…

NFL rumors: S2 cognitive test results allegedly leaked for top QB prospects

Of the supposedly leaked results, everybody but two quarterbacks got outstanding to favorable grades. From Young (98 percent), to Fresno State’s Jake Haener (96 percent), to Kentucky’s Will Levis (93 percent), to BYU’s Jaren Hall (93 percent), to Houston’s Clayton Tune (84 percent), to even Florida’s Anthony Richardson (79 percent), those are high enough marks to merit being celebrated.

However, much will be made about Tennessee’s Hendon Hooker getting a 46 percent and Stroud ending up with a dreadful 18 percent. Look, I don’t know exactly what an S2 test entails, or really care to for that matter, but 98 to 18 is an 80-point cognitive range between this draft’s QB1 in Young and QB2 in Stroud. This may be some level of the Wonderlic on centigrade, but I don’t know.

Typically, you want to see a quarterback score well on cognitive tests because they are the face of your franchise and they have to process a lot of information very quickly. Though not everybody can be Harvard legend Ryan Fitzpatrick when it comes to test taking, you want to avoid being Jeff George. Then again, Dan Marino never subscribed to the pen ever being mightier than the sword.

For whatever reason, I want to believe these numbers are fake, mostly because I don’t want to see Stroud get publicly embarrassed like this. I don’t think he’s a moron, and should not be treated as such. He has many great qualities teams looking for franchise quarterbacks could want. I think he has the potential to be this draft’s version of Derek Carr, but he has to go to the perfect situation.

Ultimately, I do think there are nefarious reasons for this supposed leak to have happened, real or not. It is all about painting Stroud in a bad light so that he will fall further down the draft board to a team who wouldn’t have been in a position to take him. Prior to this, his floor was the Indianapolis Colts picking at No. 4. I don’t want to know who leaked this or tried to, but my god, be respectful…

Stroud and Hooker for that matter have earned the right to celebrate with their families Thursday.

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