INDIANAPOLIS -- A quarterback's hands haven't been talked about this much since Joe Burrow's had people wondering if he should go No. 1 in the draft.
Hint -- he did.
Kenny Pickett's hand size has been a hot topic over the past month as the NFL Draft process heats up, and Thursday, we finally got an answer on just how big they are: 8 1/2 inches.
That was bigger than the 8 1/4 inches they were advertised to be. But it's still well under the 9-inch threshold considered the minimum for an NFL quarterback.
Burrow's? They were 9 inches, right at that mark.
At the time, Burrow felt all the questions regarding his hand size were overblown. In fact, he posted on Twitter saying exactly that.
Considering retirement after I was informed the football will be slipping out of my tiny hands. Please keep me in your thoughts.
— Joey Burrow (@JoeyB) February 24, 2020
But the question is whether or not it will affect Pickett's overall draft status. The former Pitt star entered the draft process as the top-ranked quarterback on most draft analysts boards.
At least one, NFL Films' Greg Cosell, doesn't care about Pickett's hand size. He has Pickett rated as his top quarterback in this draft.
"I know I’ve heard a lot people say, ‘Kenny Pickett has reached his ceiling.’ I’m being honest, I don’t know what that means," Cosell said. "If you can throw it to the right people at the right times and have movement — which Pickett has, probably more than people think he does — Pickett to me can do that. I know we’re going to get into his hand size and all of that. That’s not my area of expertise.
"Maybe it’s a factor, maybe it’s not. As far as playing the position, when people say to me, I think he’s reached his ceiling, if you can throw it to the right receiver at the right time and have movement ability, isn’t that what quarterback is?"
Fumbles are considered the biggest issue for a quarterback with smaller hands. But Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott has the biggest hands of any quarterback in the league at nearly 11 inches. Prescott has 48 fumbles in 85 career games.
Pickett had 26 career fumbles in 48 career games at Pitt, but only three last season when he threw for over 4,300 yards with 42 touchdown passes.
The last quarterback to be taken in the first round with hands less than 9-inches in width was Michael Vick by the Falcons in 2001. Vick, like Pickett, has 8 1/2-inch hands, but went on to a long and successful career.
The Steelers, of course, are in the market for a quarterback this offseason after the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger this offseason. Only Mason Rudolph is under contract for the 2022 season, though the team is expected to tender an offer to restricted free agent Dwayne Haskins in the next week to retain his rights.
ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper agrees with Cosell after doing some research.
"It was laughed off by GMs, former GMs, personnel directors, former personnel directors," Kiper said. "It was laughed off by everybody I talked to in the NFL that's been there for 40 years or been in a position for 15 years. It didn't matter. Not one said it was a significant issue."
