The 49ers see something special in De’Zhaun Stribling. So does this little-known test (paywall) “Smithmier, 71, has been administering something called a Judgment Index to Ole Miss players for the past three years. It’s not a personality test like Myers-Briggs or an intelligence test like the Wonderlic. Instead, it seeks to get inside a person’s head to shed light on things like their decision-making skills, their values and — here’s where it’s useful for football teams — any unrecognized weaknesses
that might be holding them back.
“There’s something about a human that we tend to do better figuring out everything else than we are figuring out ourselves,” Smithmier said. “That’s often where the stumbling block is.”
Smithmier tested Stribling when he transferred to Ole Miss a year ago and was blown away by the results. A good Judgment Index score is considered anywhere from 875 to 950. On one portion of the test, Stribling (who agreed to share his results with The Athletic) scored a 968, the best Smithmier had ever seen.
According to Smithmier, the results suggest Stribling has high self-confidence, likes to be coached hard and won’t crack under pressure.
“And it’s likely that when (those with a score like Stribling’s) are under pressure — à la a wide receiver and it’s fourth-and-10, and we’ve got to have a first down — their performance will accelerate,” he said. “They tend to do better.
“This is a person that is probably not going to blow you away in an interview,” he continued. “This is not his nature. He has a very good inner sense of who he is and how he fits in the world. And he intends to show it to you and will not try to impress you with his talk. With Strib, it’s what you see is what you get. There’s no bulls— about him.”
Why latest chapter of 49ers’ Shanahan vs. Rams’ McVay should have extra spice (paywall)
“The regular head-to-heads haven’t changed their healthy respect for each other, but the competition has created a personal distance: Characterizing them as “close friends” is inaccurate. Niners defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, who is tight with both coaches, termed them each other’s “enemy-friend” in Silver’s book.”
Four questions the 49ers still need to answer this offseason
“On paper, Brown and Mustapha, the duo that played together the most in 2025, should get another shot at winning the starting jobs with Sigle also pushing for snaps. But Brown is entering the final year of his rookie deal and Mustapha will be extension-eligible for the first time after the 2026 season. Which means the Niners will continue keeping an eye on possibilities that might come up between now and the start of the season and safety could become an even bigger need next offseason if nobody nails down those spots in 2026.”
