There’s a lot to be said for a man with large hands. I’m not entirely sure what all of those things are but one of them is that his chances of being drafted high in the NFL draft are well, high. One of the top rated quarterback prospects in this year’s draft is Pitt’s Kenny Pickett and his hands are suddenly a story.
Pickett was a Heisman Trophy finalist this past season after leading the Panthers to an ACC title and berth in the Peach Bowl. Because of his lofty draft projections, Pickett chose not to play in the game. What is clear about my early evaluations of Pickett is that he’s a winner. He’s plays with great confidence and moxie and had total command of the Pitt offense. One concern however is his hand size. Also included in that will be questions about why he wears a glove on his throwing hand as well.
Today at the weigh-in for the Reese’s Senior Bowl, Pickett chose not to participate in having his hand measured.
His fellow QBs measured the following:
Desmond Ridder 10”, Malik Willis 9.48”, Sam Howell 9.18”, Bailey Zappe 9.68”, Carson Strong 9.28”. Most NFL experts like a QB hand size around 9.50 or larger. Consider however that Ben Roethlisberger was just 9.38 (although I swear that’s on the low side).
Pitt QB Kenny Pickett didn’t have his hands measured here in Mobile, but he has a good reason: He’s double jointed, so his thumb naturally points an odd direction, and he’s doing extra exercises to get an accurate measurement at the combine in March. pic.twitter.com/KLMdraG9AC
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 31, 2022
The attention paid to hand size is like so many other things related to the NFL Draft. It’s what I like to call “paralysis by analysis.” What that means is we tend to focus so much on every single aspect of the draft process that we drive ourselves mad. In the process we don’t just look at a guy and say “he can play” or “he’ll never make it.” That’s in large part because we’ve overloaded ourselves with information.
If you’re discounting Kenny Pickett because of a hand size measurement you’re wayyyyyy over-thinking it. Dude played five years in Pittsburgh weather, not Boca Raton.
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) January 31, 2022
Pickett will no doubt face numerous questions about this which frankly is kind of stupid. What in the world can he do about his hand size? It’s not like the bench press where you can get better at it. It’s just a measurement and after all, you don’t go to the Heisman ceremony based on the size of your hand.
If the Pittsburgh Steelers are strongly considering Pickett then they already have a decided advantage. He’s spent his college career literally in the same building as they have. They’ve seen plenty of him, talked to everyone there is to talk to and I’m quite confident they’ve already reached a conclusion about him. And it has little to do with his hand size.
Some notable QB hand sizes: Peyton Manning 10.13″, Tee Martin 10.25″, Drew Brees 10.25″, Matthew Stafford 10″, Russell Wilson 10.25″, Brett Favre 10.38″, Paxton Lynch 10.25″
