Some of the successful players in the NFL have also been top scorers in the Wonderlic test. Image source: espn.
The information provided on this page is about the highest NFL Wonderlic Test scores of all times to give you an idea of how the NFL uses the Wonderlic test to produce great players.
In 1936, the Wonderlic test was made by E.F. Wonderlic to measure school and job candidates’ knowledge in math, vocabulary, and reasoning abilities.
Today, you can hear of the Wonderlic test and the NFL Combine.
The Wonderlic test was part of the Navy to find out IQs, but Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry started quizzing players with the test in the 1970s, and it has been completed in the league ever since.
As one of their measurables, the NFL now administers this test to players invited to the scouting combine.
The idea of the test is the same, although it has been twisted and altered over the years.
With a score of 20, you’ve reached the average intelligence levels.
We have come up with the 20 top highest NFL Wonderlic scores of all times.
Though these players scored the highest points, they are not the only great players that NFL has.
A lot of great players who scored low on the test later became superstars.
That means the scores of the test don’t determine whether a player would do well or not.
Somebody like Terry Bradshaw scored 13 and won four Super Bowls later on.
There are players that scored very high but after three years they’ve pulled out of the league.
20 Highest NFL Wonderlic Test Scores of all Times
Here are some of the highest NFL Wonderlic Test scoring players ever:
In 1995, the defensive lineman, Mike Mamula, had a legendary performance at the NFL combine.
This spectacular player used his physical performance to impress viewers; he scored one of the highest Wonderlic test scores with 49 out of 50.
Sadly for Mamula and the Eagles, his NFL career didn’t go as far as expected and he did not reach the peak of his career as earlier pushed up by his combine performances.
Mike Mamula was the seventh overall pick out of Boston College, but he played only five years in the league, completing with only 209 tackles and 31.5 sacks.
Greg McElroy was a hot product when he joined the 2011 draft. He led Alabama to a national championship over Note Dame.
Within three years of enrollment into the University, McElroy got a Master’s and undergraduate’s degree respectively.
The quarterback scored rather highly on the Wonderlic with 48 points.
McElroy had great achievements on the gridiron and in the classroom and was drafted by the New York Jets.
He played in just two games for his entire career, starting only one, but now hosting the sports talk show Thinking Out Loud on the SEC Network along with cohosts Marcus Spears and Alyssa Lang.
After being drafted by the New England Patriots in 2004, Ben Watson won a Super Bowl and had a long, successful career playing with the Pats, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore, Ravens, and New Orleans.
Watson is also known for hitting one of the highest Wonderlic test scores with 48.
After questioning the validity of using the test to judge NFL players, Watson stated that the Wonderlic score doesn’t have as much to do with a player’s value as his body of work and game film does.
Kevin Curtis was selected in the third round of 2003 by the Rams when he posted the highest recorded Wonderlic score by a wide receiver in NFL history.
He played eight seasons, compiling 253 catches for 3,297 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Curtis ran a hand-timed 40-yard dash of 4.21 but a 4.35 at the NFL Combine, scoring a 48 out of a possible 50 points on the Wonderlic intelligence test.
He was listed among the highest verified score active players like Ryan Fitzpatrick and Benjamin Watson scoring 48 each.
Blaine Gabbert, born in Ballwin, Missouri on October 15, 1989, is recognized because of his decision-making abilities and quick intellect.
He played on the Parkway West Longhorns high school football team during his days at Parkway West High School.
According to Rivals.com, Gabbert during his high school years was a five-star blue-chip All-American and the number 14 national player overall in any position.
During the summer of 2007, he participated in the Elite 11 quarterback camp, winning the camp MVP honors over Andrew Luck.
During Gabbert’s junior year after he was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first NFL draft round (10th overall pick) in 2004, he left the University of Missouri sooner than expected.
The NFL used Gabbert’s 42-out-of-50 scores on the Wonderlic test when considering applicants during the draft.
Gabbert was reported to be super smart and a hardworking player.
Carson Wentz was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2016 NFL Draft as the second overall pick, being the highest selection ever for an FCS player.
In February 2018, Wentz was part of the team when the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LII against the New England Patriots.
He is a graduate of North Dakota State University and a current quarterback for the Eagles.
Wentz boasts of some impressive achievements and maintains a 4.0 GPA in health and physical education.
He also was named by the College Sports Information Directors of America as the NCAA Division I Academic All-American of the Year.
Wentz scored an impressive 40 out of 50 on the Wonderlic test, being extensively higher than the average among both NFL players and the national average.
The offensive coordinator for the Eagles once said of Wentz to be off the charts smart and possesses the football IQ, as well as acumen and the ability to get committed to giving back to the community.
In 2017, Wentz, in addition to his professional and academic achievements, launched a non-profit organization dedicated to reaching the underprivileged youth, the physically disabled, and veterans named the AO 1 Foundation (Audience of One Foundation).
Alex Smith, quarterback – 40/50
Alex Smith is a quarterback for the Washington Redskins, and a diligent and smart player.
Smith earned a Bachelor’s degree in economics in two years with a 3.74 GPA as a graduate of the University of Utah.
He started working on his Master’s degree before being drafted by the NFL. Smith was honored as the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year while attending the University of Utah in 2004.
Smith was selected by the San Francisco 49ers head coach, Mike Nolan, as the number one overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft.
He was referred to by the current coach, Jay Gruden of the Washington Redskins as the smartest guy he has ever worked with.
Jay Gruden’s high opinion of Smith’s intellect certainly seems to be proven in the player’s Wonderlic test score.
Smith scored an impressive 40 out of 50, being a score significantly ahead of the 20 to 21 test score average.
Sean Mannion, who scored an impressive 40 out of 50 on the Wonderlic test just above the average NFL quarterback score which is 24, is the current quarterback number fourteen player for the Los Angeles Rams.
Mannion was selected in round 3 as pick 89 and drafted by the Rams during the 2015 NFL Draft.
In high school, Mannion attended Foothill High School in Pleasanton, California while playing football, basketball, and baseball.
During Mannion’s first year as the starter on the Varsity high school football team, he played in 12 games, scored 27 touchdowns, and threw for 3,521 yards.
He was a three-star recruit and turned down offers from San Diego State, San Jose State, UCLA, and Washington State so as to sign with Oregon State University during his graduation.
In 2010, Mannion continued to attain fame and redshirted as a freshman.
In the third round during the 2015 NFL Draft, he was eventually selected by the St. Louis Rams as the 89th overall pick.
Eli Manning is a recipient of lots of awards and recognitions and has gained a place among the intelligent NFL players.
He is a quarterback player for the New York Giants wearing jersey number ten and a two-time Super Bowl-winning player and was named the MVP of Super Bowl XLII.
Eli Manning was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity in college where he was named the Sigma Nu Athlete of the Year in 2001 and 2003 respectively.
His father, Elisha Archibald “Archie” Manning III also played professionally as a member of the fraternity for thirteen seasons as an NFL quarterback.
Manning’s score of 39 out of 50 on the Wonderlic test was nearly twice as high as the average NFL player’s results of 20-21.
With a degree in marketing and a grade point average of 3.44, Manning has been engaged in many charitable causes over the years, including raising funds for the victims of both the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and Hurricane Katrina.
Since 2008, Manning has also hosted the Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s Golf Classic and assisted in constructing “The Eli Manning Children’s Clinic” at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Matthew Stafford is a quarterback for the Detroit Lions, born in Tampa, Florida on February 7, 1988, and raised in Dallas, Texas.
Football analyst Mel Kiper Jr. in September 2006 told ESPN Radio to record his prediction of Matthew Stafford eventually being the number one pick in the NFL Draft.
The thirty-year-old Matthew Stafford was drafted as the first overall pick by the Lions in 2009 and the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw over 5,000 yards in a single season.
At the time when Stafford signed a $135 million extension with the Lions in 2017, he became the highest-paid player in NFL history.
He is currently the fastest player to reach 30,000 passing yards in NFL history.
Wearing jersey #9, Kevin Hogan is the current quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He was born in McLean, Virginia on October 20, 1992, and was selected during the 2016 NFL Draft, round five, pick 162.
Hogan had a remarkable college football career while attending Stanford University even before signing on with the team.
Playing from the 2012 season all through the 2015 season, Hogan’s college football career stopped with a 65, 9% completion percentage, 9,385 passing yards, 75 passing touchdowns, and a Stanford-record of 15 rushing touchdowns.
Hogan passed the Wonderlic test with a whopping score of 38 out of 50 and went further to express his interest in education through academic dedication and pursuit of a Master’s degree.
Born on September 12, 1989, Andrew Austen Luck is a former American football quarterback.
He has played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.
Luck proved to be intelligent by scoring 37 on the 50-question Wonderlic Test.
He was testified by John Barton, director of the Standard architectural design program to be smarter than others.
Luck received the Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award in 2011 and twice was recognized as an All-American during his college football career at Stanford.
After Luck’s collegiate success, he was selected first overall by the Colts in the 2012 NFL Draft.
When Aaron Rodgers entered the NFL draft pool in 2005, most experts, pundits, and particularly San Francisco 49ers fans expected him to be selected first overall by the 49ers.
Growing in Chico, California, Rodgers played collegiately at the University of California, Berkeley with the stats, experience, and talent that impressed scouts.
As Rodgers maintained the 24th position in the draft, he was made the second quarterback by the Green Bay Packers.
In 2005, Rodgers 24th was among other two quarterbacks, Smith and Jason Campbell 25th, who got drafted in the first round according to their Wonderlic test scores.
Alex scored 40 and Aaron Rodgers scored 35, while Jason Campbell scored 23.
Rodgers has proven to be undoubtedly the most valuable pick of the year in the years since the 2005 draft.
Many refer to that year as the Aaron Rodgers draft due to how wonderfully he performs in his NFL career and the drama that was his fall in the draft.
Can you beat Aaron Rodger’s score? The average score for all NFL players is 21 out of a maximum of 50.
Aaron Rodgers scored 35 on the Wonderlic test being in the 96th percentile above the average score for a quarterback which is 26 and proving he’s smarter than 96% of humanity.
Luke Kuechly, middle linebacker
Luke August Kuechly. Image source: Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images.
Luke August Kuechly played all eight seasons of his professional career in the National Football League (NFL) with the Carolina Panthers.
He was drafted by the Panthers ninth overall in the 2012 NFL Draft and played college football at Boston College where he was documented twice as a consensus All-American.
Kuechly became the third-youngest recipient in history after he had won the Associated Press 2012 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
Scoring 34 on the Wonderlic Test, Kuechly retired following the 2019 season and rejoined the Panthers as a pro scout.
Kirk Daniel Cousins was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
He is an American football quarterback who played college football at Michigan State from 2009 to 2011 and is a current player for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL).
Kirk Cousins occasionally appeared in games during his first three seasons with the team after being originally drafted as a backup to fellow rookie Robert Griffin III.
He became the team’s starter till 2017 after he replaced an injured Griffin in 2015.
Cousins played with the Redskins and set several franchise records until when he was named to the 2017 Pro Bowl.
Cousins signed a fully guaranteed three-year US$84 million contract with the Vikings as a free agent in 2018, after two years of signing franchise tags and being unable to agree with the team on a long-term deal.
He ranked third all-time in completion percentage with at least 1,500 pass attempts and is sixth in the NFL’s all-time regular-season career passer rating.
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL), who is generally considered to be the greatest quarterback of all time.
After playing college football at Michigan, he was selected 199th overall by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, earning him a reputation as the draft’s all-time biggest steal.
During his second season, which saw the Patriots win their first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XXXVI, Brady became the starting quarterback.
In addition to the most Pro Bowl selections (14) and the second-most regular-season passing yards (79,204), Brady holds many quarterback records, including combined passing yards (91,653), regular-season touchdown passes (581), and career touchdowns (664).
Ezekiel Elijah Elliot earned second-team All-America honors when he played college football at Ohio State in 2015.
Elliot has received Pro Bowl selection three times and has led the league in rushing yards in 2016 and 2018.
Elliot was named the St. Louis Post-Dispatch offensive player of the year as a junior running back for the John Burroughs Bombers football team in 2012.
He scored 32 on the Wonderlic test out of the 50 questions asked.
Matthew Thomas Ryan, after becoming Boston College’s starting quarterback from 2005 to 2007, led them to three bowl victories and a 25-7 record in 32 starts.
Ryan, who was drafted by the Falcons with the third overall pick in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft after playing college football for Boston College, scored 32 on the Wonderlic test, earned MVP of the game honors at the 2005 MPC Computers Bowl, and became the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
He is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL).
Conclusion:
It gives more credit scoring high on the Wonderlic test, but what determines your career success is your ability to perform in the team.
The scores are for credibility’s sake, but your intelligence and ability to perform on the team is what matters most to the coach.
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