The long-awaited hand measurements for Kenny Pickett are in, and they’re even worse than expected – just 8.5 inches. That’s T-Rex small, and will scare off some teams.
With smaller hands, there tend to be more concerns with fumbles and being able to grip the ball in adverse conditions. Pickett fumbled 26 times in his last four seasons at Pitt, with 12 lost.
I’ve got a ruler on my table, and my own hands measure at 8.5 inches. I’ve noticed when throwing around footballs myself over the years that I’m a lot more comfortable when working with a junior-sized ball. I find the regulation-sized ball to be too large for my hands.
At the same time, I’m not sure I even believe the measurements. Look at the photo, showing Pickett in action at the Senior Bowl. The hands in the photo don’t look overly small. But he was aware that hand size was going to be an issue (he declined to have them measured at the Senior Bowl, saying he wanted to work on some hand-stretching exercises for a few weeks before the Combine).
Michael Vick had hands measuring 8.5 inches, and it wasn’t an issue for him.
Joe Burrow has hands measuring only 9.0 inches, and they’ve been working just fine so far.
Below see the hand sizes for all quarterbacks who started at least five games last year. Also for these players, I’ve included fumble data, showing the number of starts, fumbles and lost fumbles over the last four years.
According to these numbers, there isn’t a strong correlation between fumbles and hand size. Tom Brady and Teddy Bridgewater have smaller hands, and they’ve been among the best at avoiding fumbles. Carson Wentz, Daniel Jones and Jalen Hurts have large hands, and they’ve been among the worst with ball security.
For fumbles, pocket awareness and decision-making seem to be more important than hand size.
In the chart below, I’ve got the five worst fumblers in bold. I’ve got the five best at avoiding fumbles tagged with black dots.
QUARTERBACK HAND SIZES | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Hand | St | F-FL | Fum/G |
Dak Prescott | 10.88 | 53 | 35-17 | .66 |
Russell Wilson | 10.25 | 62 | 31-9 | .50 |
Josh Allen | 10.13 | 60 | 39-15 | .65 |
• Aaron Rodgers | 10.13 | 64 | 17-9 | .27 |
Carson Wentz | 10.00 | 56 | 43-22 | .77 |
Tyrod Taylor | 10.00 | 10 | 6-0 | .60 |
Trevor Lawrence | 10.00 | 17 | 9-5 | .53 |
Tua Tagovailoa | 10.00 | 21 | 10-2 | .48 |
Matthew Stafford | 10.00 | 57 | 18-10 | .32 |
• Justin Herbert | 10.00 | 32 | 9-2 | .28 |
Kirk Cousins | 9.88 | 63 | 40-17 | .63 |
Cam Newton | 9.88 | 36 | 18-4 | .50 |
Daniel Jones | 9.75 | 37 | 36-20 | .97 |
Jalen Hurts | 9.75 | 19 | 18-4 | .95 |
Jacoby Brissett | 9.75 | 20 | 13-8 | .65 |
Mac Jones | 9.75 | 17 | 7-3 | .41 |
Lamar Jackson | 9.50 | 49 | 37-13 | .76 |
Kyler Murray | 9.50 | 46 | 27-6 | .59 |
Matt Ryan | 9.50 | 64 | 36-17 | .56 |
Davis Mills | 9.50 | 11 | 5-1 | .45 |
Zach Wilson | 9.50 | 13 | 5-1 | .38 |
• Andy Dalton | 9.50 | 39 | 12-6 | .31 |
Jameis Winston | 9.38 | 32 | 21-9 | .66 |
Ben Roethlisberger | 9.38 | 49 | 24-8 | .49 |
• Tom Brady | 9.38 | 65 | 16-7 | .25 |
Jimmy Garoppolo | 9.25 | 40 | 24-8 | .60 |
Sam Darnold | 9.25 | 49 | 29-11 | .59 |
Taylor Heinicke | 9.25 | 16 | 8-2 | .50 |
Baker Mayfield | 9.25 | 59 | 27-12 | .46 |
Patrick Mahomes | 9.25 | 62 | 26-10 | .42 |
• Teddy Bridgewater | 9.25 | 35 | 8-4 | .23 |
Justin Fields | 9.13 | 10 | 12-5 | 1.20 |
Derek Carr | 9.13 | 65 | 43-23 | .66 |
Jared Goff | 9.00 | 61 | 38-20 | .62 |
Joe Burrow | 9.00 | 26 | 14-6 | .54 |
Ryan Tannehill | 9.00 | 54 | 27-12 | .50 |
Taysom Hill | 8.75 | 26 | 13-6 | .50 |
KENNY PICKETT | 8.50 | -- | -- | -- |
—Ian Allan