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I love quarterback prospects like Greg McElroy, due to the nature of the position in the NFL.
I know a lot of people are dismissive of the Wonderlic IQ test, given at the Combine. The detractors wonder what the test has to do with football.
I would agree at certain positions. For instance, Jets corner Darrelle Revis scored a 10 (out of 50). That is a obviously a bad score, but it has had no impact on Darrelle’s play in the NFL. He is not only the best cornerback in the league, what plays a very intelligent brand of football.
The Cincinnati Bengals 2011 first round pick, wide receiver A.J. Green, also scored a 10. But he should be fine, though the Bengals might have to limit his route tree at first.
Those two positions involve a lot of instincts, which has little to do with intelligence. Revis and Green both have tremendous positional instincts.
But at quarterback, the Wonderlic matters. It really does.
A comment from ESPN’s Steve Young, before the draft, hammered this theory home. Aside from being a broadcaster, Young is a lawyer, and of course, he is a Hall of Fame quarterback.
“I thought the stuff I had to learn with the 49ers was more difficult than law school,” Young said.
Wow! More difficult than law school. That is quite a statement. We all know what a tremendous mental challenge law school can be.
Playing NFL quarterback is so, so difficult.
It takes a lot more than having the ability to make all the throws, or running a 4.5 forty.
You have to be so, so smart.
McElroy, who attended the recent Jets West Camp (picture above from the event), is really, really smart.
He scored a 48 on the Wonderlic, one of the highest scores in history.
One of the reasons Buffalo’s Ryan Fitzpatrick has bucked the odds as a seventh round pick (of the Bengals), to become a successful starter with the Bills, is his intelligence.
Fitzpatrick, a Harvard-graduate, scored a 49 on the test. The man is a border-line genius.
“[The NFL quarteback position] is tremendously complex – it’s not just the wordy playbook, but it’s the ameoba’s defenses you face,” said Young.
McElroy, might not have the best arm out there, but in a short period of time, he will have a strong grasp of what he needs to do. He should pick up the system very fast.
And he could make a terrific long-term #2 for the Jets because he won’t need a lot ot reps to be on top of things mentally.
Backup QB’s don’t get a lot of reps in practice during the season.
And while he’s not going to take the field and fling the ball around like Dan Marino, he should be able to manage the game very effectively.
That is what you want from a backup.
Now, he might not be the #2 this year. There is a good chance he ends up on the practice squad.
But if he plays his cards right, he could land that position a year or two down the road.