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Every year, fans can count on the NFL scouting combine to provide some drama and intrigue prior to the April draft. The scouting combine is an invitation-only event that gives NFL teams a chance to evaluate players one last time before the draft in a variety of areas, including position-specific drills, the 40-yard dash, bench press, agility tests, personal interviews, and even an intelligence test. It seems that at least one of the invited players does something to either make his stock soar through the roof or hit rock bottom.

This year, of course, one of the biggest stories coming out of the scouting combine was the purported Wonderlic test score of former Texas Longhorns quarterback Vince Young. The Wonderlic test is a standardized intelligence test administered all attendees at the NFL combine in order to help teams determine, to a certain extent, the players' ability to adapt to and learn a typical professional football team playbook, read and analyze offensive and defensive schemes, and generally adjust to playing conditions on the field. Though Wonderlic test scores are supposed to be confidential, members of the media routinely get their hands on the scores of some of the highest-profile players. Getting back to Vince Young, for example, it was leaked last week that he scored a 6 on the Wonderlic. For the sake of comparison, people of average intelligence (that is, with an IQ of 100) are expected to score a 20 on the test.

Surprisingly, neither Young nor his agent responded to the alleged score for several days after the story broke on the national stage. In fact, when I was reading different accounts on sports websites, the only reaction I saw from someone remotely associated with Young's camp came from Texas head coach Mack Brown, who was indignant at the manner in which the score was leaked and at the assumptions that were subsequently made about Young's intelligence because of the score. Still other sources said there were administrative errors made on Young's first attempt at the test, and that the young quarterback prospect took the test a second time and scored a 16.

Because of all the hoopla surrounding Young's Wonderlic scores, a number of websites started posting sample questions from past Wonderlic tests. I took a look at a few of the questions, and can say that some of them are very simple (what's the ninth month of the year) while others involve rather complicated mathematical processes. I'm not sure how hard it would be to get an average score on the test; all I can say with certainty is that none of the questions were directly related to football.

That brings me to the following question: Is Vince Young still a top-3 pick along with Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart despite his Wonderlic score (whether it's a 6 or 16)? In other words, does an intelligence test really indicate what a football player would be able to accomplish on the field? For what it's worth, I haven't been able to find a published account of Bush's Wonderlic score, but it is rumored that Leinart scored a 35.

I think the answer is that yes, Vince Young ought to still be considered a top prospect going into April's draft. If you think back to your standardized test-taking days in high school or college, you know that any number of factors can combine to affect your scores. For example, some people just might not be good test-takers regardless of the subject, or you just might be having a bad day or whatever. Even the NFL scouts admit that the Wonderlic scores are simply a small part of the entire evaluation process. In other words, Vince Young's value to prospective teams is what he can do on the field, not what he can do on a 12-minute intelligence test.

Prior to the combine, most mock drafts projected Young to be the third pick overall, meaning he would play for the Tennessee Titans. I think the Titans are in kind of a tough spot now. Because of the national coverage that Young's Wonderlic scores received, selecting him with the third pick isn't as straightforward a deal as it was a week ago. Now, if the Titans go ahead and pick Young and he turns out to be a bust, team officials will be blasted for not heeding the Wonderlic scores. There will be lots of "I told you so" statements flying around, and you can bet someone will get fired because of it.

On the other hand, if the Titans decide to skip Young and draft someone else only to see Young tear up the league en route to several Super Bowl championships and a place in the Hall of Fame, then the Titans' management will be blasted for putting too much weight on an insignificant test. As you can see, this is probably not the kind of quandary the Titans expected when they secured the third pick last season.

If I were part of the Titans' management team, I would be all for giving Young a chance. He had an outstanding college career, and though his unorthodox throwing mechanics leave a bit to be desired, I think he has the potential to do pretty well in the NFL. I don't think he'll be nearly as dominant as he was in college, simply because the NFL has turned into such a passing league. But I think he can eventually be a competent starter, and that's what the Titans need.