# take the Wonderlic test **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 24, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561 "2008-03-24T18:12:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/1 "2008-03-24T18:12:35Z")
Football players are given a Wonderlic test at the combines. > **[ESPN.com - Page2 - So, how do you score?](https://www.espn.com/page2/s/closer/020228test.html)** > > Do you have what it takes to be an NFL player? Pay attention to Page 2's Closer Look because there will be a Wonderlic Test afterward. Here is an example of the test. They generally have 50 questions. One player got 6. PS There are places that will help tutor you to get a better score. They learn a lot in college. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/2 "2008-03-24T21:37:38Z")
To be fair, knowledge has a well-known anti-athletic bias. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/3 "2008-03-24T21:39:14Z")
Ah, I’ve been looking for an online version of this. Which position usually scores the highest? Linemen? ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/4 "2008-03-24T21:43:44Z")
[QUOTE=Hi, Neighbor!] Ah, I’ve been looking for an online version of this. Which position usually scores the highest? Linemen? [/QUOTE] Offensive tackles. The [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderlic_Test) entry has average by position as reported by Paul (Dr. Z) Zimmerman. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/5 "2008-03-24T22:27:50Z")
_sigh_ I actually missed three of those. I’m not sure I’m still worthy to be a member of this Board. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/6 "2008-03-25T00:34:41Z")
I don’t think I’m bragging, but I got 'em all. I’d guess that at least half of Dopers would get them all. They threw in a couple of sorta-tricky ones that actually required a little scratch paper. But 6 out of 50? Yeesh… Joe ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/7 "2008-03-25T03:47:17Z")
Texas quarterback Vince Young supposedly got 6. Thing is, Vince isn’t dumb. He was just woefully unprepared for the combine, because he didn’t have a serious, professional agent. He was represented by his uncle and a lawyer who was a friend of the family. If Vince had Tom Condon or Drew Rosenhaus or Leigh Steinberg in his corner, he’d have known exactly what was coming, and would have taken several sample Wonderlic tests before the combine. As it was, he had no idea a test was coming and took it cold, scoring very badly the first time out (he did better when he took it a second time). ---
**Author:** ![aliquot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@aliquot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aliquot)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/8 "2008-03-25T03:54:17Z")
The difficulty of the Wonderlic isn’t the level of questions; it’s that you have 12 minutes to answer 50 of them. Which, if I’ve done my math right, gives you 14.4 seconds per question. Some of them can be done very quickly, say, 3 to 4 seconds each, but if, say, the last 10 (i.e., harder) questions take 30 seconds each, that’s 5 minutes out of 12. Still, a near-college graduate like VY should have gotten more than 6! That’s ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/9 "2008-03-25T04:45:39Z")
[QUOTE=fiddlesticks] Offensive tackles. The [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderlic_Test) entry has average by position as reported by Paul (Dr. Z) Zimmerman. [/QUOTE] That’s strange. Are blocking schemes really that complicated? I can’t believe offensive linemen tend to score better than QBs that have to run the whole offense. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/10 "2008-03-25T14:03:26Z")
So, I don’t know anything about football - what is the _purpose_ of the test? Himself and I blinked at it and thought it was maybe to see if you’d been tackled into the ground head first too many times. Is it just to see if you are, in fact, mentally undamaged? ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/11 "2008-03-25T14:08:06Z")
[QUOTE=Cyberhwk] That’s strange. Are blocking schemes really that complicated? I can’t believe offensive linemen tend to score better than QBs that have to run the whole offense. [/QUOTE] Yes, blocking schemes ARE that complicated. Offensive lineman, contrary to common belief, are often amongst the most intelligent players on the field. Much like quarterbacks, a good lineman has to know where everyone is in the backfield at any given moment. Unlike quaterbacks, they have to know this for both passing and running plays, where a quaterback really only needs to know his particular part on a given running play. They also have to be able to read defenses and make blocking adjustments on top of picking up blitzes and stunts on every play that aren’t necessarily immediately obvious prior to the snap (when the QB may notice it and call an audible). The only things they don’t care about that quaterbacks do is the actual pass coverage and receiver routes. Come next football season, take a closer look before the ball is snapped and you’ll see the lineman calling out signals and pointing things out to eachother ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/12 "2008-03-25T14:10:19Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] Thing is, Vince isn’t dumb. [/QUOTE] Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/13 "2008-03-25T14:14:22Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] So, I don’t know anything about football - what is the _purpose_ of the test? Himself and I blinked at it and thought it was maybe to see if you’d been tackled into the ground head first too many times. Is it just to see if you are, in fact, mentally undamaged? [/QUOTE] It’s a combination of a measure of intelligence and how quickly one can process information. Part of football is brute memorization of plays and expectations. But one also has to be able to make split second decisions. For instance, a quaterback and memorize every play in the playbook, but if he can’t recognize he’s under pressure and get good reads on the pass coverage, he could end up sacked or, worse, throwing an interception. I remember when I played football in high school. We’d spend the whole week preparing for a team based on what the films showed as their typical defense. I remember one game in particular where we spent the weak preparing for one defensive scheme, and they threw something completely different at us. All the intelligence in the world wouldn’t have meant anything if we weren’t able to quickly process that information and make on-field, pre-snap adjustments. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/14 "2008-03-25T15:00:30Z")
I missed 13. I was doing all the math in my head and my math was correct but I answered a different question than the one they were asking. ---
**Author:** ![mazinger\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mazinger\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazinger_z)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/15 "2008-03-25T16:27:40Z")
My company started giving out Wonderlic tests to new employees, but because my company is so decentralized, it is up to the hiring manager to decide if they want to implement it. Along with the Wonderlic test, we also to give a personality test. Anyway, I was able to take it under real conditions (scored a 44). They get progressively harder as the test progresses. Question 15 on the ESPN test, seems to be about a question in the 10-20 range. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/16 "2008-03-26T02:27:05Z")
I’m going to dispute their answer for question #5. Resent and reserve both have more than one meaning. If you used the meanings as in _“My mother didn’t get my email so I resent it to her”_ and _“Nobody ate my meatloaf on Tuesday but I decided to reserve it the next night”_ in both cases you’re saying you’re attempting to convey an object to somebody after a previous attempt was made. In which case the two words have a similar meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/17 "2008-03-26T15:28:53Z")
You are clearly way, way overthinking this. Pretend you’re a football player. Alternately, pretend you’re an inanimate object, and then try to think of what could possibly happen to make you score a 6. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/18 "2008-03-26T16:28:08Z")
On question 6, 5 should also be a valid answer. 1 through 4 have parallel sides, and also are nongeneric (square, trapezoid, rectangle, regular hexagon). 5 is just a quadrilateral. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/19 "2008-03-26T16:29:00Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] You are clearly way, way overthinking this. Pretend you’re a football player. Alternately, pretend you’re an inanimate object, and then try to think of what could possibly happen to make you score a 6. [/QUOTE] Football player = inanimate object? ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561/20 "2008-03-26T16:29:30Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] Thing is, Vince isn’t dumb. He was just woefully unprepared for the combine, because he didn’t have a serious, professional agent. He was represented by his uncle and a lawyer who was a friend of the family. [/QUOTE] That’s dumb… no? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-the-wonderlic-test/442561.md?page=2)