C.J. Stroud Effect? Sports Agency Instructs Prospects to Skip NFL Draft Cognitive Tests

The quarterback’s phenomenal rookie season might have steered the agency in this path.

Houston Texans rising star quarterback C.J. Stroud was critiqued, mocked and looked down upon for a poor S2 cognition test score during last year’s pre-draft process.

His low score on the cognitive test was leaked to the media and used as a crutch to try to knock him down a peg in the pre-draft process. At the time, Stroud insisted that he was a football player, not a test-taker.

“At the end of the day, I don’t got nothing to prove to nobody,” Stroud said at the time. “I’m not about to sit here and explain to somebody how I process football. The people who are making the picks know what I can do. That’s all that matters to me.”

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud drops back to pass in AFC wild card round :: Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports

Stroud proved the poor test score meaningless, as he won Offensive Rookie of the Year after a standout first season with the Texans. His play in spite of his poor test score might have influenced player agency Athletes First to direct its clients to not participate in any pre-draft cognitive testing.

“After much internal discussion, the agents at Athletes First have directed our draft prospects to respectfully pass on participating in any cognitive or psychological testing during the pre-draft process (e.g. AIQ, S2, etc.),” the company said in an e-mail to NFL clubs obtained by The Athletic. “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 exams has been less than positive.” 

The S2 test, which is relatively new, was certainly going to be under the microscope this spring due to Stroud’s breakout season in spite of his cognition score on the test. 

Now, with Athletes First advising athletes to opt-out of cognitive testing, even more pressure will be put on exam composers to ensure that its results are helpful to team evaluators leading up to the NFL draft.