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New York Times

S2 Cognition testing: How NFL teams use it to evaluate draft prospects

With the NFL Scouting Combine set to begin Thursday and run through the weekend, teams are in the midst of evaluating hundreds of college players in hopes of unearthing future NFL stars. While 40-yard dash times, bench press totals and anecdotes from private meetings will be thoroughly reviewed, one of the most recent evaluation metrics — the S2 Cognition test — has a bit of a complicated history. Advertisement And while the current collective bargaining agreement bars S2 from testing players at the NFL combine, prospects know that it could be a part of additional testing done after the combine at all-star games, pro days and top-30 visits. Within the last decade, teams have used the S2 Cognition test to measure how quickly the brain can process information in real time. Wonderlic — the previous benchmark for measuring cognition during the NFL combine — more closely resembles a standardized test, but the S2 Cognition test is a 40- to 45-minute exam made up of eight tests of nine cognitive functions, which are graded separately. Using a specialized laptop and response pad, athletes run through tests such as keeping track of multiple objects and identifying designated shapes in a crowd to track perception speed, search efficiency, improvisation and spatial memory, among other categories. Additionally, unlike the Wonderlic test, the S2 is an evaluation that can't be prepared for. 'Things are happening at speeds that are very different than what you do in everyday interactions,' S2 Cognition co-founder Scott Wylie told The Athletic in 2023. 'These guys, it's incredible. Their brains are wired to do things most human beings don't appreciate and can't do. They are really at the upper extreme with some of these brains. You can imagine how that gives them huge advantages on the football field if they can see things a tick quicker, when you can anticipate with higher accuracy better than most, when you can process, recognize and track things with better precision and effectiveness. 'That's what we're getting at, those intangible qualities that lead to terms like, 'Man, he's got a nose for the ball.' That's what we're quantifying.' GO DEEPER Inside the S2 Cognition test that's transforming how NFL teams evaluate draft prospects The test is most commonly associated with quarterback performances. In 2022, Brock Purdy was praised for his performance in the examination. The last pick in the draft that year, Purdy was able to slot right into San Francisco's offense to finish the regular season 5-0 and lead the 49ers to the NFC Conference Championship. Neuroscientist Brandon Ally, co-founder of the S2, considers scores above the 80th percentile to be elite. He said Purdy finished somewhere in the 'mid-90s,' a score similar to that of Drew Brees, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in recent years. Advertisement Ally did not reveal the exact score because the scores are privileged information. Other athletes have chosen to reveal their scores — Joe Burrow scored in the 97th percentile on the exam during his draft process. Despite being most commonly associated with quarterbacks, the test is meant to evaluate all positions. The top performer in the exam in 2022 was Trent McDuffie, who went on to start in the next two Super Bowls at cornerback for Kansas City. Then-LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson scored 'off the charts' on the exam while still in college, scoring in the 92nd percentile on a chart normed for NFL talent. The secrecy around the scores also has its drawbacks. Prior to the 2023 draft, a report surfaced that quarterback C.J. Stroud performed poorly on the exam. With the No. 1 pick that year, the Carolina Panthers elected to draft Bryce Young, who scored in the 98th percentile. Stroud slipped to the second pick and was selected by the Houston Texans, where he went on to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, make his first career Pro Bowl and pick up a playoff win as a rookie. Young, while improving amid a struggling Panthers roster, has a career record of 6-22 through his first two seasons. 'I'm a football player. … I'm not an S2 taker,' Stroud said the day before he was drafted. 'But shout out to S2, man, they probably have a good system, what they do, no diss to them. But I know who I am, and I know what I can do on that field. And I'll do that at the next level. 'I don't think you can play at Ohio State and not be smart. At the end of the day, if you don't trust and believe in me, all I can tell you is: Watch this.' The Stroud-Young situation prompted some to reconsider the validity of these cognitive exams. Sports agency Athletes First, which represented nearly 30 draft-eligible players during the 2024 cycle, notified NFL teams last February that its clients would not participate in any cognitive exams. The agency is maintaining that stance in this year's draft. Advertisement S2 Cognition does not have a contract with the entire league, leading to a smaller sample size of potential participants. The collective bargaining agreement also bars S2 from testing players currently on NFL rosters. At most, the test currently exists as one of the many data points for teams to use in the evaluation process.