Former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive guard, Ramon Foster played 11 seasons in the NFL and during that time, he worked with many different players. He has seen many fellow players grow and evolve during their careers, both on and off the field. Now he is speaking out about some comments recently made about a young draft prospect, quarterback C.J. Stroud and his intelligence.
Credit: Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Former Steelers OG Ramon Foster now hosts a podcast on DK Pittsburgh Sports.
Stroud is entering the 2023 NFL Draft after playing at Ohio State and being a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2021 and 2022. He is considered one of the top quarterbacks entering this year's draft along with University of Alabama's Bryce Young.
Now news has come out questioning Stroud's intelligence, which did not sit right with Foster and his co-host Dejan Kovacevic. On his podcast, The Ramon Foster Show, which airs on DK Pittsburgh Sports, Foster and Kovacevic talked about how unfair to Stroud, and other players, this is.
The NFL uses a test called the S2 Cognition Test, which measures the mental readiness of players, especially quarterbacks. High scores on the S2 have been linked to success in the NFL, so teams are placing more and more weight on those scores.
The test has eight smaller components, each of which is scored independently. The tests measure the mental processing speed the athlete has to determine how quickly they internalize and break down information. The tests are NOT general intelligence tests, meaning the kind that determines IQ scores. Those scores are compared to the scores of the other athletes and from there, patterns are assessed.
Kyle Robertson/ Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Former Ohio State quarterback, CJ Stroud (#7) instructs a receiver to get open during a college football game.
These tests are being weighted very heavily and that is understandable. Picking a quarterback is a huge decision. Make the right choice and it can set your franchise up for success for a long time, make the wrong decision and it can have the opposite impact. But as we all know, testing isn't an exact science, so how fair is it to place a heavy emphasis on these scores?
Stroud spoke out about his reportedly low score.
"I'm not a test taker, so I play football. But at the end of the day, I don't got nothing to prove to nobody, so I'm not (going) to sit here and explain how I process football. The people making the picks know what I can do, so that's all that matters to me."
DK And Former Steelers OG Ramon Foster Feel The Testing Is Being Overly Hyped
Kovacevic expressed his frustration regarding the way Stroud had to come to his own defense regarding this score.
"How do you stand in front of people, and I give him all the credit in the world, he's standing in front of people and saying, 'Hey, I'm not dumb like that.' By the way, the NFL is the only sport that puts people through this. Hey by the way C.J., you know they said you're dumb. Do you really have to be that much smarter to be a quarterback than you do, for example, a baseball pitcher?"
Foster agrees with Kovacevic and says that he doesn't like the "buts" that get attached to players in the draft like, 'I love him but...'
"I've met some guys that have not been book smart when they come down to it, but their football IQ, their ability to process plays, the ability to process them mentally and go make those plays has been at an all-time high. I've seen dudes be like, 'How did you pick that up? I am a smart dude, but I didn't see this.' So to judge a guy off of what you think a test says is borderline insane to me. If you know what I do bad, then why focus on that? Focus on my strengths and build up my negatives."
Head Coach Mike Tomlin, according to Foster, believes that much of this can be coached.
"That's also a part of coaching too, or do you just want the best-tested guy so it will make your job easier? Like Coach Tomlin said, 'Don't talk to me about stuff that's not coaching.' If you're telling me that a coach can't teach this player or something, then that's a lazy coach. Don't give me the guy that's gonna make my job that much easier that I don't want to coach up. Ben [Roethlisberger] had his ups and downs when it came to his technique and how he played quarterback. Bring in coaches that can correct those things, build them up, and make him the Hall of Fame player that he became."
AP / Gene J. Puskar
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (left) and running back, Jerome Bettis (right) embrace each other after winning Super Bowl XL.
Kovacevic agrees with Foster and says that he remembers some of the comments made about Ben Roethlisberger before and immediately after the draft.
"When Ben came in, it was like, 'Let's just simplify things' and nobody was saying Ben's dumb, Ben's not dumb. I don't like the idea of a test that puts this on display for everybody. I have covered athletes in all three of the sports that I cover, football, baseball, and hockey, who I thought, just being blunt here, were dumb as a rock. But they could go on the field/mound/ice and just do these brilliant, instinctive things and I could never figure that out."
A fan of the show drops a perfect comment in the chat, saying that Muhammad Ali couldn't pass a written test for the armed services, but there was never a smarter boxer in the ring, or out, than him. If Ali had been tested prior to being allowed to box, would he ever have made it?
What do you think about the S2 test? Do you think it is reasonable to put this much emphasis on one score? Is this fair to Stroud or anyone else who might test lower than others in their class? Click to comment below!
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