Josh Allen is willing to try to turn the Browns around. It’s a big job. Thankfully he has the hand size to handle it.
That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of year, when we determine whether quarterbacks are able to play in the NFL by the span from their thumb to their pinkie finger.
According to Josh Norris of NBC Sports, Wyoming’s Josh Allen came in at a healthy 10-1/8 inches. That’s the biggest of this year’s crop of Senior Bowl quarterbacks. Rob Rang of NFLDraftScout.com has all the measurements, and the guy everyone will be asking about later is Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph, who isn’t playing in the Senior Bowl and not just because he has 9-1/8-inch hands. (He actually has a foot injury, no word on his shoe size.)
Hand size is an actual quantifiable thing, and it has an actual football application. The bigger your hands are, the easier it is to grip the ball (especially in bad conditions) and throw it accurately and well.
But it also takes on a life of its own this time of year, when NFL scouts log every bit of information possible and the internet dissects it to a ridiculous degree.
The Rams moved up and drafted Jared Goff even though he had little bitty hands. Some guys with tiny hands even go to get them stretched, so they don’t feel inadequate when they get to the Scouting Combine.
Is it ridiculous? Sometimes. But that’s never stopped scouts, or us, from talking about it.