Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud’s warnings about his pre-NFL draft cognitive test results seem silly this season, and now the agency that represents him is taking things a step further.
Athletes First is said to be leading 2024 to abandon all spy trials in light of the revelation of low steroid results. While the agency doesn’t represent any top quarterbacks in the upcoming draft class, the decision could influence other companies to follow suit with their clients.
“After much internal discussion, Athletes First agents have instructed us to respectfully refer our draft prospects to participate in any cognitive or psychological testing during the pre-draft process (eg, AIQ, S2, etc.),” the company wrote in an email. to NFL clubs Achieved by athletics. “We understand that many of your teams use these tests or protocols as part of your future evaluation process, but our recent experience with these tests has been less than positive. Especially since the release of some results and performances last year shows that there is no secrecy involved in these tests. For the player. It’s not fair that intelligence, competence, or mental processes are subject to public discussion and ridicule – no other job interview will be subjected to the same scrutiny.
The agency’s prospects will still go through “regular pre-draft workouts and any football-based interviews or film review.”
This happened after Stroud scored 18 out of 100 on the S2 test, leading to damaging speculation about his mental aptitude for the sport. NFL teams have used the S2 since 2016, mostly for quarterbacks.
“I’m not a test taker. I play football,” Stroud said following all the criticism. “At the end of the day, I don’t want to sit here and explain how I do football because I have nothing to prove to anyone. The people who make the selection know what I can do. Whatever works for me.”
The Texans selected Stroud with the No. 2 pick out of Ohio State — a smart choice, as Stroud leads the team to the playoffs for the first time since the 2019 season. He did so while posting a memorable campaign, winning the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. But he looked like the league’s MVP at times, completing 63.9% of his passes for 4,108 yards, 167 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns in 15 games with five interceptions.
Meanwhile, first overall pick Bryce Young struggled at quarterback for the Carolina Panthers. He reportedly scored 98 in the exam. The Indianapolis Colts selected quarterback Anthony Richardson with the fourth overall pick, and he reportedly scored 79 points. There’s no point in drawing too many conclusions about the seasons those signal-callers put together, because injuries and people around them created different situations for each of them.
Finally, the one who poured the results of the test comes out looking at the worst in this situation. Although the creators finally said Wall Street Journal Stroud results can be invalid, the feedback is too little, too late.