NFL GM on C.J. Stroud’s S2 Test: ‘It Was Complete B.S. That It Was Leaked’ | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had an epic rookie season, throwing for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions while completing 63.9 percent of his passes, leading the Houston Texans to the playoffs, winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year award and making the Pro Bowl.

Not too shabby for the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. But his journey to get to that point wasn’t without its speed bumps, including his S2 cognition test results being leaked publicly during the pre-draft process. He reportedly scored in just the 18th percentile, calling into question for some people if he should be one of the first quarterbacks selected.

“It was complete B.S. that it was leaked, but people in our league can’t help themselves,” a general manager told The Athletic’s Zak Keefer.

“I think it was thrown out there by a team that had their own goals and wanted to use it to put him down and gloat on what they wanted seen,” another general manager added.

Bryce Young, who went No. 1 overall to the Carolina Panthers, reportedly scored in the 98th percentile. But he had a brutal rookie season, throwing just 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions, taking a whopping 62 sacks and completing only 59.8 percent of his passes.

The Panthers had an overall talent deficiency on offense and changed head coaches midseason, so some context is necessary when discussing Young’s struggles. But many people around football felt that more context is also required when analyzing a player in the draft process beyond just an S2 score.

“You don’t pick a guy based on a test,” Texans’ head coach DeMeco Ryans told reporters in October. “It’s silly to say, ‘Take one metric,’ when there are so many different variables that go into drafting a guy.”

At the very least, there were questions as to whether Stroud took the test all that seriously or was simply worn out from the pre-draft process.

“If I were to bet dollars to donuts, I would be stunned if Stroud gave 100 percent on the assessment,” a league source told Keefer. “When he took it, was he tired? Was he choosing not to give it his best? Was he nervous? Had he taken a million other tests that day? There’s a whole host of factors.”