No, it's not what some of you are thinking. Get your mind out of the gutter.

I have stumbled onto a formula for rating QB prospects that I had not heard of before reading a fanpost from one of our good friends over at Hogs Heaven, which was in turn highlighted by Mocking Dan of SB's Mocking the Draft. The formula represents the prospects Wonderlic Score (26 is minimum passing score), number of games started and his career completion percentage.

It's a pretty compelling arguement. I will highlight some of the findings after the jump.

Since 1998, these are some of the NFL quarterbacks who aced all three parts of the Rule of 26-27-60: Peyton Manning, Phillip Rivers, Eli Manning, Drew Brees, Tony Romo, Matt Schaub, Kyle Orton, Kevin Kolb, Matt Ryan, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Matt Stafford.

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Meanwhile, among the once highly-touted prospects who failed at least one part of the formula: Ryan Leaf, Joey Harrington, Michael Vick, Akili Smith, Tim Couch, Daunte Culpepper, David Carr, Vince Young and JaMarcus Russell.

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There are a few notable exceptions to the rule but only by slight margins. Two-time Super Bowl champ Ben Roethlisberger scored a 25 on the Wonderlic, just one point short of the standard of 26. Jay Cutler -- a mixed-bag thus far in the NFL -- scored exactly a 26 on his Wonderlic and had the starts, but completed 57 percent of his passes at Vanderbilt. Joe Flacco, who's been to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons, fell short in the starts category.

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How about the quarterback class of 2010? Top pick Sam Bradford aces the rule easily, but the other three high-profile rookie QBs -- the Browns' Colt McCoy, the Broncos' Tim Tebow and the Panthers' Jimmy Clausen -- all fall short on the Wonderlic, although not by much.

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It stands to reason why the Rule of 26-27-60 makes the most sense as a quick guide to NFL quarterbacking success, too.

Class of 2011 Pre-Wonderlic:

Jake Locker, 6'2" - 228 lbs -

Starts 26+

Completion % 53.8 (Fails)

Colin Kaepernick, 6'4" - 225 lbs -

Starts 26+

Completion % 58.2 (Fails)

Ricky Stanzi, 6'4" - 230 lbs

Starts 26+

Completion % 59.8

Christian Ponder - 6'2.5" - 222lbs PASSED

Starts 26+

Completion % 61.8

Cam Newton - 6'6" - 250 lbs

Starts 14 (Fails)

Completion % 65.4

Greg McElroy (ALA) - 6'2 - 222lbs PASSED

Starts 26+

Completion % 66.3

Andy Dalton (TCU) - 6'2" - 213 lbs PASSED

Starts 26+

Completion % 61.7

Ryan Mallett - 6'6" - 238 lbs.

Starts 37

Completion % 57.8 (Fails)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/john_lopez/07/08/qb.rule/index.html#ixzz1CGaC5yKu