The S2 Cognitive Test purports to evaluate nine cognitive skills — including perception speed, decision complexity, and impulse control — for NFL quarterback prospects, seemingly providing pro teams an edge as they search for the next diamond in the rough.
But the test’s results and efficacy came under scrutiny when then-Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud’s score of 18 — reportedly the lowest among last year’s draft-eligible signal-callers — was leaked to the media.
Now that Stroud has posted a dominant rookie campaign and led the Houston Texans to the Divisional Round, the creators of the S2 Cognition Test have offered a seemingly convenient excuse — that Stoud’s test score was “potentially invalid” and should never been made public.
C.J. Stroud’s Rookie Season Forces S2 Creators To Look for Answers
“There’s nothing on the plant that’s going to be a crystal ball,” S2 co-founder Brandon Ally told the Wall Street Journal in an interview this week. “We can’t predict success.”
Nearly 1,000 NFL Draft prospects take the S2 test every year. Roughly “a dozen or two” are flagged for a potentially unreliable result, which could be registered because the player was exhausted or distracted by the pre-draft process, per WSJ.
Stroud’s score was immediately “flagged as potentially invalid” and viewed as an “unreliable result.”
Remember the S2 cognition test?
Its creators now tell the Wall Street Journal that C.J. Stroud’s poor result was “potentially invalid” and should never have been leaked. pic.twitter.com/kXo8H9jUqS
— Ryan Heath (@QBLRyan) January 20, 2024
But the score was nevertheless leaked to the media. Bryce Young scored a 98 on the S2 and went No. 1 in the 2023 NFL Draft to the Carolina Panthers, while Stroud fell to the Texans at No. 2.
We all know what happened next. Stroud posted one of the most impressive rookie quarterback seasons in NFL history, leading the league in passing yards per game and interception rate. Meanwhile, Young finished next to last in QBR for the two-win Panthers, who fired head coach Frank Reich at midseason.
“Let’s say we miss 20% of the time,” Ally told WSJ. “If our standard has to be we can’t miss ever, or we can’t miss on one player, man, that’s tough. I don’t know anybody in sports who’s that good.”
While Ally makes a fair point about S2’s expected hit rate, it’s a convenient narrative for the company’s executives as draft season rolls around again. As NFL analyst Kevin Cole noted, S2’s messaging is akin to every team proclaiming after the fact that it was just about to draft Patrick Mahomes in 2017.
Even if Ally and co-founder Scott Wylie are realistic about S2’s results, NFL decision-makers and media members may not be as discerning.
One NFL executive told GoLongTD’s Bob McGinn, who leaked the S2 results last year, that his team had “never had somebody grade low and play well” and referred to Stroud’s score as a “red alert, red alert.”
For his part, Stroud never seemed fazed by the attention on his S2 score. He’s ultimately gotten the last laugh, as the 22-year-old’s composed manner carried over onto the field and could result in an Offensive Rookie of the Year win.
“I’m not a test taker, so I play football,” Stroud told the Charlotte Observer’s Scott Fowler before the 2023 NFL Draft. “At the end of the day, I don’t got nothing to prove for nobody. So, I’m not going to sit here and explain how I process football. The people who are making the picks know what I can do, so that’s all that matters to me.”
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