C.J. Stroud's NFL Draft discourse has gotten out of hand; building a hoops team out of WR prospects; and just take a QB, Texans

Mercifully, the NFL Draft is here. In just a few days, a couple hundred players will have dreams of becoming NFL players fulfilled and hopefully starting off fruitful careers for them and their families. The draft is an inexact science, but there can be quality players found throughout Rounds 1-7.

However, this 2023 NFL Draft edition of Four Verts starts off with an incomplete narrative surrounding one of the draft's top prospects.

Let’s relax on C.J. Stroud

Every year, there’s a mark. Someone whose draft stock gets wrecked by backward narratives in the weeks leading up to the draft. This year is no different, and the prospect impacted by it the most is former Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud.

His stock appears to have taken a hit, or at least his public perception, in the past few weeks, mainly because of something that isn’t entirely understood — this tricky S2 test.

The S2 cognition test is a newer test that supposedly, according to its website, “defines what was once undefinable” — an athlete’s cognitive ability. This test appears to have replaced the Wonderlic in terms of importance to NFL teams, making it the hottest standardized test that people care about. The problem with the S2 test doesn’t even really have anything to do with the test itself; it’s that the vast majority of people are wholly unqualified to discuss what these test results mean.

The problem with Stroud reared its head when Bob McGinn, the former Green Bay Packers beat writer, did what he usually does during this time of year: allowed anonymous scouts to dunk on prospects without taking any temperature on the appropriateness of their comments. McGinn reported that Stroud scored an 18% on the S2 test — and the narratives were off. It was aggregated by other internet outlets and before anyone could blink, Stroud was being called crazy names all over social media.

There are two major problems here. No one knows what that 18% figure means. The test, which reportedly asks athletes to do things like memorize various patterns they're shown only in an instant, isn’t even easy to define. What does 18% mean? What aspect of the test caused this to tank? How viable is this score for Stroud's NFL prospects? Almost no one commenting on his apparent score even knows.

Then there’s the fact that the co-founder of this test went on the Pro Football Focus NFL show and said the scores McGinn reported were incorrect. However, it was too late for that. Stroud being the dumbest man alive is far juicier than what the S2 creators themselves have said about the test results.

This is the worst of draft season. Possible explanations for the score or even the suggestion that the score is wrong is drowned out by the hordes of laughing social media users. Who does this help? There isn’t even a lot of public information about the viability of this test!

Of course, none of this is particularly surprising, or even new. The same responses were made to players with low Wonderlic test scores. Given the history of standardized testing in this country and others, it’s fairly easy to hold the lukewarm position of “let’s wait and see what this actually means.”

Or not. Just point and laugh on the internet because that’s the far easier thing to do. Let’s take it easy on Stroud over this reported test result. The last time we saw him play against the Georgia Bulldogs, he was the coldest dude on the field. That should have more merit than a test that isn’t even fully understood yet.

Building a basketball team from wide receiver sleepers

This year’s wide receiver class mirrors the rest of the draft. There’s not a lot of elite, top-end talent, but there’s a lot of depth to be excited about on the second and third days of the draft. Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Boston College’s Zay Flowers feel like locks to be the first guys off the board, with TCU wide receiver Quentin Johnston in the mix too. However, there are a lot of wide receivers who can fill specific roles in the later portion of the draft.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has likened building a wide receivers room to a basketball team before, so here’s a quick starting five from wide receivers that won’t be going in the first round.

Center — A.T. Perry, Wake Forest

Perry is raw, but about as talented as they come as far as tracking the ball and making tough catches. Perry is a bigger receiver who can dominate at the catch point and play bigger in the red zone while he gets adjusted to the NFL.

Power forward — Jonathan Mingo, Ole Miss

Mingo is a tough, do-it-all kind of wide receiver. Mingo reminds me a lot of what Mohamed Sanu meant to the Falcons during their peak years of offense in the mid-2010s. He has the ability to run after the catch and is a willing blocker. He’s not a No. 1 receiver, but every group needs someone to do the dirty work.

Small forward — Rashee Rice, SMU

Rice is a renaissance receiver. He’s good at just about everything without being elite at any one thing. Perfect for the two-way wing player we need in this receivers room.

Shooting guard — Kayshon Boutte, LSU

Let me preface by saying this: I don’t know a whole lot about basketball. However, I’ve always loved the two guards who randomly go off for 40 points in a game and make you wonder “why can’t you always tap into this?” Kayshon Boutte is that guy. Boutte was tabbed as the next great LSU wide receiver, but had a quiet final season before declaring for the draft. Still, he was talented enough to give some great players in the SEC trouble during his time, so maybe an NFL team can get the most out of him.

Point Guard — Tank Dell, Houston

Need a shifty playmaker who can be a quarterback’s best friend while opening things up for the entire offense? Dell can be a valuable part of a receivers room. At 165 pounds, Dell will never have a huge workload in the NFL, but his ability to get open and make defensive backs look silly in space is key.

5 players to watch after first round of 2023 NFL Draft

Kobie Turner, DT, Wake Forest

It can be difficult to find explosive, up-the-field defensive tackles after the first round, but Turner might be one of those guys. He has an explosive first step and a quality array of pass rush moves that will make him a valuable member of a team's defensive line depth moving forward. Three techniques who can disrupt at the line of scrimmage are always en vogue, and Turner is about as pure of a three technique prospect not named Jalen Carter.

Cedric Tillman, WR, Tennessee

Tillman is a quality developmental prospect as a big-bodied “X” receiver past the first round of the draft. His college running mate, fellow draft prospect Jalin Hyatt, has gotten all of the buzz this draft season, but Tillman is a quality prospect in his own right. There are a few scouts who like Tillman more than Hyatt as far as their roles in the NFL will be concerned.

Gervon Dexter, DT, Florida

If there’s any position to take a swing on traits over production, it's on the defensive line. Dexter may not have a whole lot of standard production (sacks, tackles for loss), but he’s got some rare physical traits that are hard to find. Dexter ran a 4.8 40-yard dash at 300 pounds and his exceptional athleticism shows up on film. He’s going to have a lot of defensive line coaches saying, “I can fix him” this upcoming weekend.

Chris Smith, S, Georgia

Smith is the perfect player to find past the first round. He played a ton of football at Georgia, was a linchpin for two national championship defenses, and worked his way to the top of the depth chart after not playing much his first few years. Smith isn’t the most athletic safety in the draft, but he’s fundamentally sound and made a whole lot of plays for Georgia. He’d be a great fit for a team that needs a defensive back who can play just about any safety spot.

Kendre Miller, RB, TCU

Miller isn’t talked about as one of the top players in this class, but he might have a case to be in that second tier of running backs behind Bijan Robinson. Miller is explosive and powerful enough to survive the first contract to keep his legs churning. In a world where running backs drafted on Day 3 can be difference makers, Miller has a chance to be one of those guys. He would thrive in a zone-blocking scheme.

The Texans just need to take a quarterback

Houston, what’s going on here? The reports out of the Texans’ pre-draft wrap-up seem strange for where they are right now organizationally. They seem prepared to pass on a quarterback with the second overall pick. Will Anderson Jr. or Tyree Wilson are worthy of going at the top of the draft, but it seems like an odd use of resources with such a glaring need: QUARTERBACK.

Look, man. Quarterback needs to override just about everything else. It’s not like this class is lacking QB talent, even if there’s a bit of projection with the top guys. A defensive end is not saving the Texans, it’s not even really getting them off the ground. If general manager Nick Caserio has the job security he claims he does, then taking a quarterback is a no-brainer. How can you compare yourself to "The Wolf of Wall Street" and then take the safest player in the draft? It doesn’t compute.

The reigning AFC South champion Jaguars have Trevor Lawrence. The Colts are taking a quarterback. The Titans are trying to trade up for one as well. How can the Texans be the only team not in the quarterback market in their own division? It makes no sense. There’s no guarantee that Drake Maye or Caleb Williams will sustain their draft stock until next year — or even that the Texans will be in position to draft either of them. Take a quarterback now and see what happens. A bust wouldn’t even be in the top-five worst things to happen to the Texans in recent years.

Houston has talent. It has assembled a nice offensive line and has a great running back in second-year pro Dameon Pierce. The Texans need to take a real swing here and give themselves a chance to consistently compete sooner rather than later. Don’t play scared!

Then again, this team is run by Cal McNair. So who knows what can happen here. The idea should be simple, but the Texans might make it much harder than it needs to be. We’ll see where the Texans' head is at when the draft kicks off Thursday night.