QB Kenny Pickett registers 8 1/2 inch hand measurement at NFL combine

INDIANAPOLIS — It is hands-down the most digested, critiqued and eyebrow-raising number attached to NFL quarterback prospects each year. And on Tuesday at the annual combine for the best players in the country, former Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett became the latest high-profile passer to have his hand size become part of his pre-draft windup.

Pickett's right hand was measured at 8 1/2 inches, which would be the smallest of any quarterback currently in the NFL.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Taysom Hill, whose hands were measured at 8 3/4 inches leading up to the 2017 draft, has the smallest of the signal-callers, followed by Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback Brandon Allen, whose hands were measured at 8 1/2 inches at the 2016 Senior Bowl. Allen, who told ESPN's David Fleming in February 2020 that he did hand exercises and used a stretching/massage regimen following the Senior Bowl, later had his hand measured at 8 7/8 inches at the 2016 combine.

Pickett, who was a Heisman Trophy finalist and won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award in 2021, is seen as a potential first-round pick entering the combine. He is the No. 1 quarterback and No. 19 prospect overall on Mel Kiper Jr.'s Big Board, while he is the No. 2 quarterback (behind Liberty's Malik Willis) at No. 19 prospect overall in Todd McShay's Scouts Inc. rankings.

Pickett participated in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, last month, but he elected not to get an official measurement for his hands. He said then that he will try to improve his hand mobility through stretches ahead of the combine.

«The reason I didn't measure at the Senior Bowl was just to have those extra couple weeks, just kind of a common sense thing, to have more time working the exercises,»