The S2 cognitions test is the latest innovation in pro football scouting that could have a major impact on the 2023 NFL Draft this week.

With scores being leaked for all of the top quarterbacks in the 2023 draft class, it will be interesting to see how, if at all, the results impact the draft. Some teams do not receive any information or results from S2, while others refer to the information as part of their player evaluation process. 

Are the Tennessee Titans one of those teams? How does Tennessee's front office feel about this form of evaluation? Titans GM Ran Carthon answered those questions and more during his pre-draft press conference on Monday afternoon.

WHAT IS S2?

S2 is not your average IQ test. It is a 45 minute, nine segment evaluation that is taken on a specialized gaming laptop and response pad which claims to measure an athlete's reactions and cognitive abilities "down to a millisecond level." 

Those skills include perception speed, search efficiency, tracking capacity, visual learning, instinctive learning, decision complexity, distraction control, impulse control, and improvisation. 

S2's website states that the test "uncovers an athlete's invisible skill sets and the 'whys' behind their performance." Notable elite scorers from previous years include Justin Fields, Joe Burrow, Drew Brees, and Josh Allen.

But as I mentioned earlier, not every NFL team has access to the information provided by S2's process. Dave McGinnis told Blaine and Mickey on 104.5 The Zone that only two teams in every division are under contract and receive data from S2, which is based in Brentwood, TN.

HOW THE TITANS USE S2

According to Ran Carthon's pre-draft press conference on Monday afternoon, the Tennessee Titans are one of the teams that use S2, even though it's a new concept for him personally. 

“This is my first experience with the S2, so I’m still learning it myself,” Carthon said. “There’s still space for me to grow. I know we use it and we’re working through it. We met with [S2] last week so I can get a better understanding of how to use it as part of our analytical component to evaluate a player. But myself, I’m still learning.”

Carthon is highly-regarded around the NFL as a talent evaluator. A big reason for Carthon's success as Director of Player Personnel with the San Francisco 49ers was his special ability to recognize strong character in the players he evaluates and "having a good feel for people," as 49ers GM John Lynch said. 

If you ask Carthon, getting to know the person that you're drafting can be just as useful as studying the tape. Especially when it comes to quarterbacks. While many look back in hindsight and point to Brock Purdy's S2 score (the highest in the 2022 draft class) as an indicator of his future NFL success, Carthon points to Purdy's character.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Carthon said after hearing of Purdy's score. “But more than anything, I think you have to to know the human that Brock [Purdy] is. Brock knew he wasn’t the tallest or fastest or had the strongest arm, but I legitimately saw this kid prepare every game."

The Titans are taking the right approach with this one. Ran told the media that the results are "not the end all, be all" when evaluating players. Instead, he views the innovation as another analytical piece than can potentially direct the Titans to pay closer attention to the film. 

Knowing what we know now about Brock Purdy, a lot of teams probably wish they'd gone over his tape an extra time and asked themselves "Is there something we're missing?"

S2's track record is strong, but the sample size is just not large enough for it to have more pull than what the player has done on tape and what their measurables are. Maybe five years from now we'll look back and see that S2 is widely accepted and directly correlated to QB performance. But for now, Carthon and the Titans need to stick to what they know and have S2 tell them where they need to do extra homework.