Wonderlic can test one’s soul

Every year, the Wonderlic scores somehow get out, someone gets embarrassed, and the merits of the test as an evaluating tool are debated.

How much do NFL teams really apply the scores to their overall evaluation of draft prospects? Not much? Quite a bit? Somewhere in between?

All of this has been called into question because LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne scored a 4 on the 12-minute, 50-question exam, according to Pro Football Talk. That’s one of the lowest scores ever recorded on the test, which is designed to measure learning and problem-solving abilities.

Claiborne, considered the premier corner in the draft, is a potential top-five pick. Will that score and the fact that he reportedly has a learning disability drop him down the board very much?

Given how well 49ers running back Frank Gore has done in the league, and he supposedly scored a 6, probably not. So where does the Wonderlic actually fit into the scheme of things?

Former Patriots [team stats] tight end Benjamin Watson [stats], who earned one of the highest recorded scores with a 48, isn’t sure how much, if at all, that influenced the Pats when they chose him in the first round in 2004 as the 32nd overall pick out of Georgia.

“I don’t know how much weight is put on it,” Watson told the Herald Thursday. “Some teams, I hear, put a lot of weight on it. Some teams don’t care. So I don’t know for sure. What I do know is it’s not an exact science.”

Watson may have been able to pick up the Patriots offense faster than most, and grasp what he was supposed to do on every route, and so his intelligence may have factored into his selection, but that was only part of the equation. The Pats, as well as other teams, also had to weigh physical elements.

Whatever the case, Watson took the test seriously and studied for it. He was told by his agent it had some bearing so he prepared. During the process, he saw other prospects didn’t care as much, and chose not to commit any time to studying for it.

“My group really prepared me physically, and mentally for everything I was going to go through in the combine,” Watson said. “I had like an SAT prep course and did simulated Wonderlics.”

The test is given to just about every draft-eligible player, and it has been administered by the NFL for more than 30 years.

Plenty of great players haven’t scored well. By the same token, plenty of projected stars who have wound up as flops in the NFL have produced some of the best scores.

“Does a higher Wonderlic mean you’ll perform better on the football field? It might, or it might not,” said Watson, who signed with Cleveland in 2010 after reaching free agency. “A person’s football ability might be totally different than their ability to score high on an aptitude test. I mean, I understand why the test is there. They want to have some type of standardized benchmark to compare, and keep everyone on the same level. But when you look at it, a Wonderlic score doesn’t have as much to do with football as your film does in college and your body of work.”

And this coming from a man who nearly had a perfect score.

“I just think the sad thing is, it’s not supposed to be made public,” Watson said. “I didn’t know what my Wonderlic score was for a long time. It was kept private. Should it be made public? I don’t know. I think there’s so much that’s public. One more thing wouldn’t hurt, at the same time, there’s no need. I’m all for keeping it private, especially when talking about something that’s as sensitive as an aptitude test.

“When you see that test score (like Claiborne’s), you assume that person isn’t smart. But there are so many variables to it. There’s a lot of people who do well in their professions, that don’t take tests well, or have learning disabilities. Or, as I said, don’t even care to study for it. So I’d keep it private. That’s where the argument should stop.”

Herzlich grateful

We caught up with New York Giants linebacker and former Boston College standout Mark Herzlich last week at an autograph show in Wilmington.

He said he had been doing a lot of travelling in the wake of the Super Bowl win, but was excited to get back into the thick of things with offseason workouts about to begin.

While Herzlich was thrilled about his team’s win, it was a bit bittersweet given he wasn’t able to play. He was a scratch due to injury.

“It was very tough. It was frustrating. It’s one of those things where it was hard, but since we got a Super Bowl win, it was worth it,” Herzlich said. “If I could change it, I would have much rather not gotten hurt. But, at the same time, I was very happy how the season ended up for the team.”

Herzlich still keeps tabs on his alma mater, and is thrilled for former teammate Luke Kuechly, who is expected to go in the first round of this month’s NFL draft.

“He came in when I was sick,” said Herzlich, a cancer survivor. “I did a lot of mentoring or coaching or whatever you want to call it when he first got there. It was good he felt comfortable leaning on me in terms of small decision making. He asked me my opinion on an agent.”

The Giants linebacker pointed Kuechly in the direction of super agent Tom Condon, and the training facility at IMG. Kuechly followed the advice.

“He ended up going down there and doing well at the combine. I just hope everything works out the way it should for him,” Herzlich said. “He looks great, and he impresses people with his words, and his brain and his physical ability. I’m excited to see where he goes in the draft. I’m just trying to get him out to New York, so after he gets drafted, he can buy me a dinner, or something.”

Welker dishes it out

Wes Welker held court with a captive audience during his media appearance Tuesday at a Brooklyn film studio, where he modeled the new Nike-made Patriots uniform.

When not talking contract, there were plenty of other amusing little items interjected into the conversation. The franchise-tagged wide receiver revealed his favorite vacation spot thus far during the offseason was Costa Rica. That’s where he and fiancee Anna Burns spent time with Pats quarterback Tom Brady [stats] and wife Gisele Bundchen.

Other items of note?

Welker eats egg whites and oatmeal before day games. That’s what gets him nutritionally charged. Before night games, it’s chicken, rice, asparagus and/or broccoli.

His music of choice? The rock band Kings of Leon. That’s what he has hooked up and blasting in his earphones.

“They just got a good vibe to them,” Welker said of the group. “It’s one of the few CDs I know all of the words. It’s nice to repeat them in my head.” . . .

Sergio Brown has been a busy guy the last few weeks doing charity week, and also, this past week, taking part in the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University under the NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Program.

Before heading back to Chicago and a five-day session in school, the Patriots safety was in town and spoke about last season not working out personally, although he did contribute on special teams.

“I played a lot of special teams in college. It’s translated into this part of my career,” said Brown, signed as an undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame. “Things didn’t go as I’d like at safety, but I was still able to get out there and contribute to the team as much as I could, any way I could. Hopefully, I can put both of them together this year.”

With the addition of Steve Gregory, and more reinforcements likely to come with the draft, there should be competition for jobs.

“Competition is a great thing,” Brown said. “It pushes the team, it pushes everyone individually. That’s what it’s all about.”

This article was written by Karen Guregian and appeared in the Boston Herald.