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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1540498
This article is part of the Research Topic Determinants of Achievement in Top Sport View all 7 articles

HEAD IN THE GAME 1 Running head: HEAD IN THE GAME: THE IMPACT OF COGNITIVE ABILITIES ON PERFORMANCE OF NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (NFL) QUARTERBACKS Head in the game: The impact of cognitive abilities on performance of National Football League (NFL) quarterbacks

Provisionally accepted
R Thomas Boone R Thomas Boone 1*Nicholas S Zambrotta Nicholas S Zambrotta 1Andrew M Manocchio Andrew M Manocchio 2James K Bowman James K Bowman 3
  • 1 University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, United States
  • 2 Mercer University, Macon, Georgia, United States
  • 3 Great Neck Public Schools, Great Neck, New York, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    American football is a multi-billion-dollar industry and source of social identity and national pride. Recruiting top level players is a priority for franchises, coaches, teams, and fans. Utilizing data obtained from 42 National League Football (NFL) quarterbacks, collected at their respective Combine experience, the current study adds to existing research demonstrating that cognitive abilities, as measured by the Athletic Intelligence Quotient (AIQ), namely Visual Spatial Processing, Reaction Time, and Decision Making, all increase the predictive accuracy beyond the role of draft pick at the Combine. Reaction Time; Visual Spatial Processing and Decision Making to a lesser, but notable degree; predicted NFL performance metrics such as Career Approximate Value, Quarterback Rating, passing and rushing yards per game, turnover worthy plays, and throwing accuracy. The role of cognitive abilities, particularly in the critical position of quarterback in American football, is discussed.

    Keywords: American football, NFL draft, Elite athlete performance, cognitive abilities, Quarterbacks

    Received: 05 Dec 2024; Accepted: 10 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Boone, Zambrotta, Manocchio and Bowman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: R Thomas Boone, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.