Plenty of the pre-draft discussion around Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett, a potential first-round pick and a consensus top-two passer in the 2022 class, has centered on the signal-caller’s hand size. Each year, QB prospects have their hands measured, and 9-inch measurements are generally considered adequate for the NFL, per NFL.com. Pickett, however, logged just an 8.5-inch measurement at the scouting combine Thursday, putting him in historic company ahead of April’s draft.
Of the 663 QB prospects who’ve had their hands measured since 1987, according to NFL analyst Warren Sharp, only nine had smaller hands than Pickett. Not a single QB with hands smaller than 8.5 inches has entered the NFL in the last five years, Sharp added, pointing to former Falcons and Eagles starter Michael Vick, who played from 2001-15, as the last example of a successful NFL QB with 8.5-inch hands. Among all the NFL’s active QBs, as ESPN notes, only the Saints‘ Taysom Hill has hands that measured below 9 inches.
Pickett, who also has a double-jointed thumb, has downplayed concerns over his hand size, while previous top prospects, including Bengals Pro Bowler Joe Burrow (whose hands measured at exactly 9 inches in 2020), have done the same. Still, assuming Pickett is drafted next month, he’ll be poised to enter the NFL in the hand-size minority.
Pickett is ranked as CBS Sports’ No. 22 prospect in the 2022 draft, while analyst Josh Edwards has him pegged as this year’s top QB prospect. Edwards’ latest first-round mock draft has Pickett going sixth overall to the Panthers.
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