Geoff Schwartz: Eli's brain just works faster than ours.

Listening to "Outkick the Coverage," Clay Travis's morning talk show on Fox radio on the way in this morning, he had Geoff Schwartz on for a segment. They talked about a few different things, most draft-related. Found it an interesting segment, especially for the BBI masses.

In random order:

Travis asked Schwartz about recently released Wonderlic scores. On Tuesday's show, he had this: The Wonderlic scores for all of the top quarterback draft prospects have leaked over the past week. University of Miami signal caller Brad Kaaya led the way with a score of 34, while Clemson's Deshaun Watson brought up the rear with a score of 20.

So why does it matter (the question was posed on his web site)?

According to Clay Travis, Super Bowl winning quarterbacks currently playing in the NFL have posted an average Wonderlic score of 30.7, and no Super Bowl winning quarterback in the modern era has ever scored lower than Brett Favre's 22.

With Schwartz on the phone, Travis brought up Eli and said he had "a Wonderlic score of 39 or something like that." Travis asked Schwartz his opinion about the Wonderlic.

Schwartz said he thinks people sometimes misunderstand the point of the Wonderlic. Many of us know this because we talk about it here on BBI, but he went on to say that it's a timed test, and the guys have maybe 15 seconds per question. Schwartz said it's no coincidence that that's about the amount of time an NFL player has to approach the LOS, get a read, analyze what they see, and go. He said a guy with a low Wonderlic isn't necessarily unintelligent, but it could be an indicator that he cannot process information quickly ... and maybe not quickly enough to be effective in an NFL game.

Schwartz said that the Wonderlic is a much more important indicator for guys who play certain positions, such as the obvious - quarterback, but also o-line, and he said he would add defensive back (he said safety, specifically, with all their necessary reads).

He said that playing with Eli was a lot of fun. He said being in game-prep, watching film, etc. with Eli slowed the game down significantly because Eli would point things out that even the linemen weren't picking up on.

Travis then said he heard an interview Eli did a while back (can't recall specifics) in which the interviewer asked Eli to describe coming up to the line and all the various things he sees, checks, adjusts, calls, etc. Travis said he remembers that it was hard for Eli to be specific. In other words, he just does them, and isn't even necessarily aware of some of them. It's just reaction.

To which Schwartz responded: "His brain just works faster than ours. His processing ability is off the charts."

Schwartz said that on a play-action pass play, for example, the quarterback will start the play with an initial read. Then the snap comes and the quarterback turns his back on the defense. When he turns back, Schwartz said, it's a completely different look, so it's critical for a QB to be able to recognize nuances. For example, when he comes out of the fake, then re-sets, does he know, with certainty, that the D is in a cover-2? And if so, where are defenders, and more importantly, where are they going to be in a few more ticks, where will his outlets be, etc.

Schwartz also spoke briefly about the CBA agreement to cut practice time. He said from a player's standpoint it was a positive on the physical end, but from a preparation standpoint, it hurt teams and players. (No-brainer there, but interesting to hear him say it, nonetheless.)

Schwartz remembered his own draft-weekend experience. He said his agent projected him to be a 4th- to 6th-rounder, so he didn't bother even paying attention to the draft in the early going. But he said he turned the TV on Sunday morning - something he said he probably shouldn't have done. Two teams called him to say they were considering drafting him - I believe he said in the 5th and the 6th, but the confirmation never came. It got into the 7th round and he went out for a walk, stayed busy. His agent was preparing for marketing his player as a UDFA. Then the Panthers called.

"I remember they asked me how I felt about being drafted," Schwartz said, "and I remember saying exactly this - that I really didn't care. The other teams said they might take me and they didn't, so I didn't think this was a definite."

His signing bonus was $41,600. He said when the check arrived, it was for $24,000, after taxes (such insanity). Schwartz said he bought a truck right away (made no down-payment) and he got himself an apartment when he made the team. But he put his money in the bank, for the most part. He also talked about how much money that was for him, all in one lump sum. "I'd never seen anything like that before," he said.

They talked about some other trivial things, but I thought those might be the highlights of most interest around these parts.

Curious to know from Sy, Dave, and any of you other draft/scouting gurus ... where you place the importance of the Wonderlic, and any other related info/trivia there you might be willing to share.

Have a great day, all ... it's the most wonderful time ... of the year.