Oh boy. We’re back on quarterback hand size measurements at the NFL combine again.
This time, it’s with Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett, who became famous last season for his fake slide.
Now? His hands measured at just 8.5 inches across.
Is that small? Yes. But as we’re going to get into in a moment, THIS DOES NOT MATTER! We have seen some QBs with what has been described as small hands, and those quarterbacks have been just fine.
Yet that’s what was buzzing on Thursday morning, so here’s a roundup of all that, including a look back at QB “small hand” history:
This is really a thing
The number you've all been waiting for:
QB Kenny Pickett: 8 1/2" hands
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) March 3, 2022
Why is this a big deal?
Smallest hand size by a first-round quarterback since 2003: Jared Goff, Ryan Tannehill, Joe Burrow (9 inches)
No matter how much stock you put in hand size, Pickett's are tiny by historical standards https://t.co/Q8RKTCc8f5
— kyle meinke (@kmeinke) March 3, 2022
https://twitter.com/SharpFootball/status/1499418306440269826
Does this matter?
Um, no. Kyler Murray’s hands were considered small and he’s doing just fine, thank you. We wrote about this back in 2019 with Murray:
If NFL teams are truly worried about Murray’s ability to play in cold weather or hold onto the football, they needn’t look further than his college stats. The Oklahoma star had a fumble rate of just 1.9% during the 2018 season. For comparison, the lowest fumble rate among the quarterbacks we analyzed above was 5.56%. And, in the two games he played in sub-40 degree weather (against West Virginia and Oklahoma State), he completed 73.2% of passes for 713 yards and four touchdowns. That’s good for a passer rating of 200.2, which would break the NCAA single-season record.
To recap: There is no correlation between hand size and fumble rate or cold-weather performance, and Murray was exceptionally good at avoiding fumbles and playing in cold weather during his time in Norman.
And how about that Joe Burrow guy? Remember this tweet in 2020 and the hand size hoopla?
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 people still made jokes, didn't they?
Sure did:
— Depressed Washington fan (@TerminateDan) March 3, 2022
Kenny Pickett seeing everyone talk about his hand size: pic.twitter.com/iZuEmjOxWu
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) March 3, 2022
Kenny Pickett seeing everyone tweeting his hand size pic.twitter.com/duqcTM0bl8
— Pickswise (@Pickswise) March 3, 2022
Kenny Pickett was probably trying to get Treylon Burks to come with him into the hand measurements so he can pull this move. pic.twitter.com/xV1A9anlNm
— Tyler Brooke (@TylerDBrooke) March 3, 2022
We have exclusive photos of Kenny Pickett's hand and of him holding a football. pic.twitter.com/thnGbDkIJX
— Jay Lampert (@MortChristenson) March 3, 2022
I stand in solidarity against hand shaming with Kenny Pickett my dainty handed king 👑 pic.twitter.com/lR6PjO4wqI
— ZP (@it_meZP) March 3, 2022
Kenny Pickett reading all these tweets about his hand size pic.twitter.com/zQNMgE7sgD
— Jason Gendron (@JasonGendron16) March 3, 2022
There we have it, 8.5 inch hands for Kenny Pickett. Hand size SZN is upon us. pic.twitter.com/UOPxKnT8lH
— Zachary Krueger (@ZK_FFB) March 3, 2022
Pickett didn't seem too concerned when asked about it earlier in the combine
Pitt QB Kenny Pickett on much-discussed hand size: "Whatever it measures, it measures."https://t.co/WwhlZ9ymCD pic.twitter.com/EmYsqA228R
— NFL Draft (@NFLDraft) March 2, 2022
Yep. That sums it up.
