Johnny Manziel's already-high draft stock could be on the rise again.

Weeks after Manziel impressed scouts at his pro day last month, the 21-year-old from Texas A&M can now add a strong Wonderlic score to his portfolio.

Lance Zierlein, a Houston radio host, and John Middlekauff, a former NFL scout and current San Francisco radio host, each tweeted Thursday that Manziel had scored above 30, and NFL Network's Albert Breer reported Friday that it was a 32:




The Wonderlic test doesn't ask anything about football, and as is the case with many intelligence tests, it has been criticized for its reliability. It consists of 50 questions, with a 12-minute time limit. "The questions are not especially difficult, in and of themselves, but the compressed time frame is a wild card that can make questions seem more challenging," according to Dennis Manoloff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Although the Wonderlic has been used in numerous occupations, it is most famous as the aptitude/IQ test for NFL prospects."

According to Breer, the scores for the other top two quarterback prospects this year were 28 for Central Florida's Blake Bortles and 20 for Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville.

There has only been one perfect score of 50 among NFL prospects on the Wonderlic, and it figures that the player who aced it was a Harvard man. Pat McInally, who went on to play 10 seasons with the Bengals as a punter and a receiver, registered the 50 in 1975, and his score might have actually worked against him, according to George Young, then the general manager of the Giants.

"He told me, 'That may have cost you a few rounds in the draft because we don't like extremes. We don't want them too dumb and we sure as hell don't want them too smart,' " McInally said to the Los Angeles Times.

Cincinnati took McInally in the fifth round (120th overall).

Another Harvard player, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, posted a 48 on his Wonderlic in 2005.

Of course, the important thing to remember here is that the Wonderlic score can be misleading. Wonderlic scores for quarterbacks drafted high the past few years have varied wildly. Scores for Cam Newton (21), Blaine Gabbert (42) and Christian Ponder (35), for example, have not correlated correctly with success or failure.

For what it's worth, other scores among active NFL quarterbacks include ...

  • 40 Alex Smith
  • 39 Eli Manning*
  • 38 Colin Kaepernick
  • 37 Andrew Luck
  • 37 Tony Romo
  • 35 Aaron Rodgers*
  • 33 Tom Brady*
  • 28 Peyton Manning*
  • 28 Russell Wilson*
  • 27 Joe Flacco*
  • 25 Ben Roethlisberger*
  • 24 Robert Griffin III

* Super Bowl Champion

Manziel is a top-five pick on many mock draft boards, and some have him going as high as No. 1. One of his limiting factors, in addition to his relatively small stature, is said to be questions about his character.

But these scores, as well as his in-person meetings with teams, appear to be easing those fears.

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