The predraft screening process kicks off in earnest at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama this week and that means it is time to discuss the hand sizes of aspiring NFL quarterbacks.
It’s an annual exercise and it appears Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett will be the center of attention on that front this time around. Pickett opted not to have his hands measured at the Senior Bowl and he said Tuesday that he will be doing extra exercises before the Scouting Combine in order to get the best measurement. Bengals backup quarterback Brandon Allen picked up 3/4 of an inch doing such exercises before he was drafted in 2016.
Pickett, who wears two gloves while playing, also said that his experience playing in messy weather in Pittsburgh shows that his hand size hasn’t caused him problems holding onto the ball.
“I think that’s like the No. 1 thing for quarterbacks in the draft process every year is hand size,” Pickett said, via Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com. “The good news is that I play in Pittsburgh. Anyone that’s been to Pittsburgh knows it’s not the nicest place to play in October, November. So I’ve had experience playing in tough weather and I didn’t measure in this week. I just want to give the most measurement I can. I’m working on mobility things.”
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow‘s hand size was the subject of much attention a couple of years ago. Burrow joked that he was “considering retirement after I was informed the football will be slipping out of my tiny hands” and he’s kept laughing all the way to Super Bowl LVI.