Throughout the predraft process, quarterback Kenny Pickett heard all about how his small hands were going to hurt his draft stock and his limit him in the NFL. Pickett talked about it when he was on the Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger podcast this week.
According to Pickett, there were teams that told him they took him off of their draft board because his hands were less than nine inches.
“There’s teams that were like, ‘If you’re not at nine, you just get off the board,'” Pickett said.
Harsh but this is the reality of the NFL and metrics. Teams set minimums and won’t deviate from that for any player. There is very little evidence connecting hands under nine inches and so hesitation was to be expected. Thankfully, the Steelers didn’t see the concern and drafted Pickett in the first round. Through one season, Pickett’s hands haven’t been an issue at all so there’s no reason to believe this will change.
