Leaked results of C.J. Stroud's cognition test may be misleading

It’s no coincidence that C.J. Stroud’s draft stock took a bit of a hit after longtime NFL reporter Bob McGinn published results of the S2 Cognition Test — the exam that replaced the Wonderlic and measures how quickly a player can process data and make decisions.

Three of the top four quarterbacks in the 2023 draft class — Bryce Young (98), Will Levis (96), Anthony Richardson (79) — scored fairly high while Stroud’s score of 18 was flagged as a “red alert” by an anonymous executive, according to McGinn.

However, the test’s co-founder Brandon Ally stated on an episode of “The Pat McAfee Show” that the leaked test scores — which includes Stroud’s — were not entirely accurate.

“I will say is the list of scores that I have seen, two of those scores are not accurate; they’re not accurate at all,” Ally said. “Some of the reason (for the leaks) could be for narrative purposes. The other reason is that they don’t have context. Somebody could have gotten a list of very early scores.”

While Ally could not name players directly for legal reasons, he hinted that one player (likely Stroud) had a low score initially because the test was not taken under optimal conditions. He confirmed the player retook the test and scored much higher.

“One of the athletes on that particular list I know had a difficult time making his way (the test), things were delayed, he was in high demand, he was hungry, tired, it was 11 p.m. and he didn’t want to do it; he was frustrated,” Ally continued. “We administered the test because we were asked to. We knew at that point in time, ‘Hey, we’ll get you again. We’ll get you at your pro day, 30 visit — we did that and his score was significantly higher than what is being reported in the media.”