There are a lot of evaluations that come with the NFL Draft, including physical testing as well as mental testing. However, one agency is now reportedly instructing its clients who will be prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft to forgo the latter.
According to The Athletic, Athletes First has told its clients not to participate in any cognitive testing during the pre-draft process. The agency reportedly emailed NFL teams in January to inform them of the decision.
The email sent to NFL teams reads, “After much internal discussion, Athletes First’s agents have requested that our draft prospects respectfully participate in any cognitive or psychological testing during the pre-draft process (e.g. AIQ, S2, etc.).” Have been instructed.” , via The Athletic.
The email continued, “We understand that many of your teams use these tests or protocols as part of your prospect evaluation process, however our recent experience with these tests has been less than positive.” “In particular, the fact that some of the results and performance were leaked publicly last year shows that there is virtually no privacy in these tests. Public discussion of a player’s intelligence, aptitude or mental processing and It’s not okay to be the subject of ridicule – no. The same scrutiny is done in other job interviews too.
“While our clients are happy to participate in standard pre-draft physical activities and any football-based interviews or film reviews, we will not subject them to a variety of psychological tests.”
Athletes First is the agency of Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, who Reportedly scored incredibly low on the S2 cognitive test last year, The reported score led some pundits to be wary of the Ohio State product, but it didn’t stop Stroud from being selected No. 2 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, or having a historic run while winning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Didn’t stop the season from happening.
The Athletic reports that the S2 company is currently under contract with half of the NFL’s 32 clubs. These test scores are not and should not be taken as gospel. The determining factor in who will succeed and who will fail in the NFL. It’s clear that NFL officials view S2 scores differently.
S2 Cognition Test co-founder Brandon Alley attempted to push back against the negative noise surrounding Stroud last year, saying that some of the leaked scores were not accurate.
“The day these leaked, my phone was blowing up from general managers and our lawyer,” Ealy said on “The Pat McAfee Show,” via Sports Illustrated. “We can’t talk specifically. What I will say is the list of numbers that I’ve seen, two of the numbers are not accurate. They’re not accurate at all.
“Some of the reasons may be for descriptive purposes. Another reason is that they don’t have context, so someone may get a list of very early scores. I know that a particular athlete would have difficulty making it out of that list. He was on his way to the All-Star Game, things were getting delayed. He had a lot of demands. He was hungry, tired, it was 11 o’clock at night, he didn’t want to do it. He was frustrated. We Got tested because we have to.
“We knew at that point, ‘Hey, we’re going to get you again. We’re going to get you at your pro day, your 30th.’ We did that and his score is much higher than what is being reported in the media. I’m not saying it was CJ Stroud. But for reference purposes, some of the scores that were leaked are wrong and the context behind that Should be.”
The S2 test has nine different sections, which are graded differently. Segments include a quarterback’s ability to track multiple possessions, make complex decisions, and filter if/then scenarios with different defensive scenarios – with the ability to improvise. The test takes 45 minutes and is run via a gaming laptop, ultimately measuring players’ ability to quickly check information appearing on the screen in front of them.
