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Freakonomics Radio · September 11, 2026 · 00:58:20

686. Why Is It So Hard to Find an NFL Quarterback?

Dan Hatman, Kurt Warner, Scott Goldman, Stephen Smith
Show Notes

NFL teams have long struggled to predict which college quarterbacks will become stars, and the failures are costly. Stephen Dubner talks to a scout, a sports psychologist, a data entrepreneur, and Hall of Famer Kurt Warner — who defied every evaluation — about why the position is uniquely hard to project and whether cognitive testing and analytics can improve the odds.

This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.

Preview

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The Quarterback Prediction Problem00:00:00
NFL teams have historically failed to accurately predict which college quarterbacks will thrive in the professional game, with high draft picks often not panning out.
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Cognitive Abilities as a Missing Piece00:00:00
Sports psychologist Scott Goldman argues that traditional physical and film-based scouting overlooks the mental processing demands that separate elite quarterbacks.
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