Drew Rosenhaus explains massive change for NFL Draft prospects

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk mentioned ahead of this past weekend that the Athletes First and Rosenhaus Sports agencies are instructing prospects to not participate in any cognitive tests related to the 2024 NFL Draft. 

Well-known agent Drew Rosenhaus explained the reasoning for that decision during a recent conversation with NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. 

"In just speaking with people around the league, I have a lot of respect for doing whatever we can to help our clients get drafted and get drafted as high as they can," Rosenhaus said. "But in this particular case, I think a lot of these tests actually work against our clients. I don’t want to point any fingers at anyone or hurt anyone’s feelings, the people that put these tests together, and I personally don’t want to speak for the teams, but I would like for our clients' character and intelligence and football IQ to be measured in individual meetings and interviews." 

Former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud repeatedly found his name in headlines last spring after he reportedly posted a poor score in the S2 Cognition Test ahead of the 2023 draft. 

The Carolina Panthers ultimately made Alabama Crimson Tide signal-caller Bryce Young the draft's first pick, and the Houston Texans grabbed Stroud via overall selection No. 2. 

Needless to say, the Texans are quite pleased with how things played out. 

According to Pro-Football-Reference, Stroud finished the regular season ranked sixth in the NFL among qualified players with a 100.8 passer rating and first with an average of 273.9 passing yards per game. 

Across 15 contests, he threw 23 touchdown passes and only five interceptions en route to earning Pro Football Writers of America and Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. 

To compare, Young ended the regular season ranked 32nd with a 73.7 passer rating after he reportedly scored in the 98th percentile on the S2 Cognition Test. Stroud scored in the 18th percentile.

Rosenhaus also told Breer he'd advise clients to pass on taking the Wonderlic test during the upcoming scouting combine. 

Shanna McCarriston of CBS Sports noted last April that the S2 Cognition Test replaced the Wonderlic for testing of to-be NFL rookies that "scientifically measures an athlete's game-speed cognitive abilities down to a millisecond level." 

Florio, meanwhile, blasted NFL teams for conducting "intrusive testing" and then leaking results "to reporters who will publish it without thinking twice about whether they should."

It remains to be seen how front offices and coaches will react if handfuls of players refuse to take certain tests at the advice of their agents.