Young's test result a wonder to scouts
Texas quarterback Vince Young isn't working out at the NFL Combine, but if the buzz here yesterday is true, he may have hurt his draft status significantly without throwing a football.
With pro prospects running and jumping inside the RCA Dome, word outside began to spread that Young scored a six on the Wonderlic test given to prospects.
The 12-minute, 50-multiple choice question test is just one factor teams look at when gauging a player's intelligence. The average score for an NFL prospect is roughly 19.
The NFL doesn't make Wonderlic scores public.
Most draft experts viewed Young as a Top 3 pick. A low Wonderlic score, however, could result in him sliding in the draft if teams believe he is not capable of grasping the myriad of responsibilities of an NFL quarterback.
But, did he really tank? Or was the test scored improperly? …How does this happen?
On Sunday, the combine said the test score of 6 that was being reported by some media outlets was false.
"I've been told it was inaccurate by a source good enough for me to quote it," Texans general manager Charley Casserly said Sunday afternoon.
Young took the test again and scored 16. According to Young's agent, Major Adams, the Sunday test was administered by Jeff Foster, executive director of National Scouting Combine.
"The combine officials assured us that score (6) was false and that the accurate score will be known when the combine results are given to each team," Adams said.
Wonderlic scores are supposed to be confidential and are never confirmed publicly by the NFL. Because they are included in combine results given to teams after the combine, scores leak out.
It appears many QB’s have tanked recently …
In the last six seasons, the only solid quarterback prospects with extremely low Wonderlic scores were Seneca Wallace (10), who was drafted by Seattle in the fourth round in 2003, and Tee Martin (11), who went to Pittsburgh in the fifth round in '00.
In 1999, Donovan McNabb scored 12, Akili Smith scored 15 and Daunte Culpepper scored both a 15 and a 21. The year before, Charlie Batch had a 12 and a 15 and Aaron Brooks scored 17.
Southern California's Matt Leinart scored 35 on Friday, according to sources. The other top quarterback in the upcoming draft, Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler, had 26 in April. Almost all of the quarterbacks taken in the first round in the last decade scored 20 or more. The average score by 26 quarterbacks who took the test last spring was 23.35.
Jerry Jones declares it, Win Time …
While Parcells said he never really considered walking away after last season's disappointing 9-7 campaign, Jones said it was imperative that he do whatever it took to keep Parcells in the fold.
"The alternative to that was not even close," Jones said. "He gives us the chance to win and win big in the immediate future. I have placed a big emphasis on winning big in the immediate future."
Jones said he has no concerns about talk of Parcells' future coming up again next season. He said that is par for the course with a coach Parcells' age.
"Could another year of disappointment make a difference here?" Jones asked. "Yes. It takes so much out of him to not be successful."
But right now Jones believes Parcells is as committed as he was when he signed on three years ago.
Moreover, Jones said Parcells is excited about the Cowboys and their hopes for next year.
Because of that and because the NFL of today allows teams to become big winners overnight, Jones said he can live with Parcells being here on a year-to-year basis.
"I am about winning," Jones said. "Bill Parcells is about winning."
Meanwhile, Jay Cutler moves up the board quickly …and the Texans ponder the “trade down”…
according to league personnel at the combine, Cutler has solidified his position as one of the top three quarterbacks, and could move ahead of Young, or perhaps even Leinart. The top three quarterback prospects are so different in their abilities, teams must carefully evaluate which one best suits their system.
Cutler, who played at Vanderbilt, elected to work out Sunday at the combine.
Leinart, from U.S.C., and Young, from Texas, decided to wait to work out until their on-campus pro days, a few weeks before the draft. That gave Cutler another chance to impress the scouts over the weekend, and he sounded eager to take advantage.
---
Charley Casserly, general manager of the Texans, said Sunday that Houston had been talking to teams about trading the first pick in the 2006 draft.
It has been widely speculated that Reggie Bush, the Heisman Trophy-winning running back out of Southern California, will end up with the Texans because they recently gave quarterback David Carr a three-year contract extension.
The Texans, who finished 2-14 last season, have multiple needs that could be filled with one major move.
"There's clearly players at the top of this draft that are marquee players," Casserly said. "Players that are impact players, players that are going to go to the Pro Bowl, players that are going to sell tickets. We're going to get offers for this pick. We've already had discussions with teams. I think there's value in our pick.
"Whether it's Reggie Bush, Vince Young or Matt Leinart, those three players are going to produce trade offers. We are definitely going to have some choices when it comes to draft day."
Sadly, Finland’s dream ends with a pummeling by Sweden … clearly the best team won…
Bob McKenzie wonders what the point was …
What the NHL players have to do prior to this Olympic tournament; what they have to do to get to this Olympic tournament, and then go back to a compressed schedule in the National Hockey League, I seriously wonder if the greater good of hockey is served.
That's not because Canada and the United States are out; I thought the same thing in 2002 when Canada won. I know that the NHL is going in 2010, but I don't think you will see NHLers at the Olympics after that.
In Baseball Frank Thomas vs. Chicago GM Ken Williams ….
"We don't miss him, by the way," Williams said. "If you go out there and ask any one of my players or staff members, we don't miss him.
"We don't miss his attitude. We don't miss the whining. We don't miss it. Good riddance. See you later," he said.
Williams said he planned to express his feelings in person to Thomas when the opportunity presented itself, perhaps this spring.
"I'm a general manager and I'm supposed to be above these things. But again, when is enough enough?" he said. "He brought us to this point. So, OK, you want to play this game? You've got it. You got it. He's the Oakland A's problem right now. ... He better stay out of our business. He better stay out of White Sox business."
Matt Kenseth wins for Wisconsin’s pride …My Dad is pleased…
Kenseth, extending the stranglehold that the Roush Racing Fords have over Fontana, climbed all the way from the 31st starting spot to win the Auto Club 500 Nextel Cup race, averaging 147.852 mph. Three other Roush drivers finished in the top 10 as well.
No NASCAR driver had won from that deep in the starting grid since the speedway opened in 1997. The victory also was the first for the Wisconsin native since he won in Bristol, Tenn., last August, his first victory in Fontana and the initial victory for the new Ford Fusion.
Kenseth, the 2003 Nextel Cup champion, and his team managed the feat by repeatedly adjusting his car's handling and with the help of late caution flags, the last of which forced a two-lap overtime shootout.
"All the stars aligned for us," said Kenseth, 33, acknowledging, "We didn't have the most dominant car."
The dominant car was another Roush Ford driven by Greg Biffle, who was cruising toward a repeat of his Fontana victory a year ago until his engine failed with only 25 laps to go, opening the door for Kenseth.
"It's frustrating," said Biffle, who led 168 of the 250 laps at the two-mile, D-shaped California Speedway. "We didn't have an engine failure all season last year."
It was one of the few disappointments for Roush. Another Roush driver, Carl Edwards, finished third in his Ford, behind runner-up Jimmie Johnson, who drives a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Roush teammates Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin took sixth and ninth, respectively, also in Fords.
When the season opened at Daytona International Speedway, there was widespread agreement that this year's Cup field was the most evenly matched in history. That still might be true, but not at Fontana.
Mosely stops Vargas …I cannot decide what this says about either guy, stay tuned…
Mosley, 34, was, however, far from dominant in beating Vargas, who also was trying to get his career back on track.
Their scheduled 12-round junior middleweight match at the Mandalay Bay Events Center turned out to be sort of an extended one-punch fight.
Mosley caught Vargas, 28, with a stiff right to his left eye in the first round, and the knot over Vargas' eye continued to swell as Mosley peppered it in the following rounds.
By the seventh, Vargas' eye was swollen shut.
Referee Joe Cortez finally stopped the fight at 1:22 of the 10th round after Mosley landed several shots to the head.
Another game, another game without a goal from Liverpool’s strikers; But Harry Kewell scores, Liverpool 1, Man City 0 …
Funny, when they were winning trophies that were a bit bigger, Manchester United laughed at the Carling Cup winners, But now, They celebrate like they won Europe, beating Wigan 4-0 for some level of hardware…
Since this has been sportsy, I will leave you with a few “other” items:
Above, Dan, Forrest Griffin, Bob.
The Fruitcake Lady …
Our Hero, Gabe, and his bear…
Autistic basketball player’s big moment …you really got to see it to believe it…
NY Times feature on the stretch run of the Sopranos …
Finally, Iverson is in town tonight. I did not link anything to it, but how amazing was the fourth Q versus Toronto on Saturday? I would have done something else if I wasn’t sitting in my office working on some mail. The game was background noise when they were down 20 in the 4th Quarter. But, they came back in storybook fashion, and I am happy I didn’t turn it off. Wow. How would you like to be the Raptors? Give up 81 to Kobe, and then blow a 98-81 lead with less than 8 minutes to play? Double Wow. How do you not love Darrel Armstrong?
36 comments:
Texans trading the first pick? They better get alot back, the fans have been chanting for Reggie Bush since the 2nd week of the season.
Vince Young tanked the Wonderlick? (sic). So he is Wonderlickless? Not Wonderlicking? Sub Wonderlickish?
Soccer talk...yeah!!! (Grubes, cue the let's party drop).
ANY QB that has his name tatooed on his back in 6 inch letters, is doomed to fail in the NFL. VY won't start more than 30 games..
And that should be a gay or not gay also.
What did Bob score on that Wonderlic?
He's mentioned it a couple of times on the
show, but I forgot.
It was something like 34, but that seems
a little low considering Matt Leinart scored a 35.
Maybe it was 44?
VY. If I was an NFL GM I would be more concerned with his passing skills than his Wonderlic scores. As long as the team that drafts runs a single back spread with only 5 plays he will be fine but I doubt an NFL team will trot that out on Sundays.
As for the Autistic basketball player, that coach must be kicking himself for not putting that kid in a game sooner.
Harry Kewell looks like an absolute british cigarette in that pony tail.
blue moon
Maybe my definition of pummeling is different from Bob's, but Finland only loss by one goal.
As for the autistic kid, IIRC on ESPN they said he missed his first 2 shots, and then made the rest of them
It's that time of year again. We forget all about what we saw these guys do on the field, and who they did it against. Instead we start looking at 40 times and test scores. Ridiculous!! Remember when not a soul on the planet knew who Akili Smith was? Then all of a sudden he's in the top five. It's like that time of year that we start thinking, "ya know, the Rangers might be good this year." Remember the games. Remember how guys played and the level of competition it was against. Wonderlick my balls indeed.
Arthur
Not saying Vince can't play in the NFL, but if you score below a 10, it means you basically can't read. Not someone I want to commit $40 or $50 million dollars towards.
Now I'm saying it: Vince can't play in the NFL.
UT football program is totally clean...I promise.
Jay, if you care to do some homework(hasn't been your strong suit thus far when it comes to talking sports) you'll see that Texas has suspended numerous athletes over the last couple years for not meeting academic standards. It wasn't just bench-warmers either; it included PJ Tucker & the expected ace of last year's national championship baseball team, not to mention a couple expected starters for the football team(Mike Williams to name one). So keep your ignorant accusations to yourself until you have some proof, all they do is reek of the same stench as the rest of your posts: sour grapes.
^5 Fake Sturm!
Arthur you are right on. You can play, or you can't. Test scores and 40 times don't mean S on the field. Coaches refer to "football speed" as the game speed of a player, and not some controlled 40 yard dash.
And as for classroom testing, a 16 on the Wunderlick may mean you don't want this guy as a GM, but did anybody want VY to be a GM anyway? HELL NO! He is a football savant. I don't care if he can read, or write. Hell, most players can barely do that. But most players can't play like VY. He has proven in his jump from high school to college and his improvement while in college that he is smart enough to learn what he needs to improve his game and dominate his peers. Someone will give him a chance to do it in the NFL. And 2-3 years from now, he will have the GMs who passed on him kicking themselves in the arse.
What the hell is aggy (Jay) talking about now?
It's more sour grapes from a fan of a team that hasn't been relevant in a decade in any meaningful sport.
All Vince proved in his jump from high school to college was that he couldn't grasp the offense. He only became a "football savant" when we turned every play into "make 1 read, then run". IF an NFL team drafts him in the Top 10, they will be wasting a huge amount of money. It's been proven time and again that you've got to have brains to play QB at the NFL level and you can't "out-athlete" defenses in the pros.
What did Bob score on that Wonderlic?
He's mentioned it a couple of times on the
show, but I forgot.
It was something like 34, but that seems
a little low considering Matt Leinart scored a 35.
Maybe it was 44?
It was 39
I hate the bring this up. But every single one of the QBs that you mentioned as having struggled on the Wonderlic were black. Is there any chance that's their racial bias?
In a famous fable by Aesop, a fox declared that he didn’t care that he could not reach an attractive bunch of grapes because he imagined they were probably sour anyway. You express sour grapes when you put down something you can’t get: “winning the lottery is just a big headache anyway.” The phrase is misused in all sorts of ways by people who don’t know the original story and imagine it means something more general like "bitterness” or “resentment."
You express sour grapes when you put down something you can’t get:
Like a winning QB? What was McNeal's record again?
From a recent interview with Walter Bush (chairman of the board of USA Hockey)...
The consensus appears to be that the NHL will end its relationship with the Olympics after 2010. Bush says that's probably accurate.
"The (NHL) owners are in a business," he said. "I agree that after 2010 the NHL won't be there."
Race and intelligence from wikipedia
the "stench" noted above is from all the Longhorns wonderlicking Vince's taint. man, I am so sick of the Reggie/Vince/combine/stupidQBs tired head talk.
vywonderlicbornborn
eric in keller (worse bit by the way), it's not even worth comparing blitzes thrown at him by Pete "thank God everyone's forgotten who miserably I failed in the pros" Carroll with NFL blitzes by NFL players.
Vince = Eric Crouch = Charlie Ward = NFL Failure
^ bitter aggy or sooner?
Anybody care to wager?
Did Charlie Ward ever sign with an NFL team? I thought he went right to the NBA. Am I wrong or did "Pro Scout" F that up?
Fake Sturm -
Mr. Wunderlick questioned Vince 50 times and he only answered 6 times.
Hines Ward has made quite a career for himself at WR. Vince should follow his lead.
Cleveland Browns GM Phil Savage:
"With Vince Young, you see a handful of plays [in his college film] that really translate into an NFL game. You can watch 30 games of Vince Young if you want to, and you're going to come up with maybe four or five games worth of tape that really applies. Whereas Leinart, you can watch four games, and you're going to see four games of NFL-style offense."
United's League Cup trophy is one more than Liverpool will have at the end of the season.
Fake Sturm -
Vince will not be taken in the Top 3 of the draft.
Mark it down.
United are a sinking ship you anonymous twat. Isn't it about time you jumped on the Chelsea bandwagon?
Eric in Keller,
Sooners don't give a rats ass what Radio does in the NFL.
And don't compare either UT or Aggy with OU, when you have 7 MNC's... maybe.
Radio? Nice.
I guess Sooner fans are used to comparing QBs to movie characters, since Jason White looks like he was lifted off the set of O Brother, Where Art Thou.
Tat's it, I swear to fucking pete, all tis Vince Young/Aggie/Longorn/OU bullsit (during spring training no less -- were's te baseball talk?) is turning me into a soccer fan. Sig...I migt as well turn gay, too. Eff you iceoles.
(Obviously, te "aytc" key is broken. Dammit, you can't even spell it ponetically witout te stupid letter.)
Sorry H Man. Let's talk spring training. What'd Erubiel Durazo do today?
The only thing more boring than watching baseball, is talking baseball.
Eric, and what has the number gotten you?
recruits? nope.
not much...
but lets move on and fight the city of dallas together so those numbers will only be counted at the Cotton bowl
I'm glad we got the assessment of Vince Young from Cleveland's GM.
After all, Cleveland has had a lot of recent history of scouting high draft picks, thanks to his considerable player acquisition talents. Anybody know what the Arizona's GM thinks? Or perhaps San Francisco's GM?
Post a Comment