KANSAS CITY, Mo. — C.J. Stroud will be one of the first players off the board when the NFL draft kicks off Thursday, and the Ohio State quarterback said Wednesday whatever team takes him won’t have to worry about his reportedly low score on the S2 cognitive test.
“I’m not a test taker, so I play football,” Stroud said at a pre-draft community service event. “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 who making the picks know what I can do, so that’s all that matters to me.”
Stroud was under consideration to be the first pick of the draft when the Carolina Panthers traded up from No. 9 in early March, though Alabama quarterback Bryce Young is now the consensus favorite to go No. 1 overall.
NFL MOCK DRAFT 5.0: Lions go all defense in Round 1 as teams wait on QBs
THAT PRO TEAM UP NORTH: Lions reportedly to host C.J. Stroud on pre-draft visit; QB in play in Round 1?
Young reportedly scored a 98%, the highest of any quarterback, on the S2 test, which measure how quickly a player processes data and information. Stroud reportedly had the lowest score of 18%.
The test is considered especially revealing for quarterbacks.
“It’s not on accident things come out,” Stroud said. “It’s not on accident that people throw dirt on my name and I definitely think that whatever that means, cause people benefit from things, people don’t, and I definitely know that who I am as a person, I’m going to continue to just be myself. So I know that it wasn’t on accident, that it happened on purpose. I’m not dumb, but at the same time I can still realize who I am and I can just be myself. I’m a football player not a test taker.”
Stroud insisted Wednesday he did not know what he scored on the test — “I don’t know the test scores because it doesn’t come off at the end,” he said — though he intimated he had a low score.
“I know I can process very well and I know I’m very smart,” Stroud said. “You can’t play at Ohio State and not be smart, and for the people — for the S2 test, it is what it is. It happened and I’m willing to stick up and I don’t have no excuses. I know what I can do on that field, though.”
Considered one of the biggest wild cards in this year’s draft, Stroud could go as high as No. 2 overall to the Houston Texans or could slide out of the top 10 to a team such as the Tennessee Titans at No. 11.
THE PAST: Lions NFL draft picks history: Their 5 best and 5 worst first-round selections
Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson also are in the mix to be the second quarterback drafted.
Stroud said he had good conversations with the Panthers, “would love” the opportunity to go No. 1 overall and has stayed in touch with Titans coach Mike Vrable, another ex-Buckeye, since last year’s pro day. Asked if he senses he still is in play for Carolina at No. 1, Stroud said, “To be honest, I don’t know.”
“If you asked me a couple months ago, I probably would have had a different answer for you but I have no idea,” he said. “I haven’t really been on any social media so I don’t know what’s going on but I know it’s an opportunity and I think I can, but I’m open to really anything. It’s not my decision, so I just sit back and relax.”
Stroud, who made a pre-draft visit to the Detroit Lions earlier this month, said he’s willing to spend a year in a backup role if he ends up with a team like Detroit.
Asked if he thinks the Lions are a realistic landing spot for him, Stroud said, “It could be, yeah.” He called Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson “a genius” and said he had “great” conversations with Johnson and others in the organization.
The Lions have starting quarterback Jared Goff under contract for two more years, but have left open the possibility they draft his replacement.
“I mean, my eyes are open,” Stroud said. “I know drafts are crazy every year, especially for quarterbacks so we’ll sit here and see. I had a great meeting with them and the 30 went very well, so we’ll see what happens.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.