3 reasons Steelers fans should not want Kenny Pickett in NFL Draft

Pickett has historically small hands

Many fans scoff at this metric and brush it away as if it’s nothing at all, but I would urge you not to do so. Though some NFL Draft analysts can certainly cross the line when it comes to being too analytical, there’s actually a lot of history behind hand size, and Kenny Pickett would be the biggest outlier we have ever seen in this department.

There has never been an NFL quarterback who has had good success with under 9” hands. part of the reason for this is there just isn’t many prospects who come in the league with hands that are sub-9″. There are only a few in the NFL that come to mind: Brandon Allen and Jake From (both with 8 7/8” hands).

However, Pickett’s hand size is rumored to be just 8 1/4”. This is significantly below the 9” threshold and this is more than just a little concerning. Because of his tiny hands, Pickett is forced to wear gloves on both hands at all times, and that won’t change in the NFL.

What will change is that Pickett will be playing with a larger ball — something that could affect his power and velocity even more. I’m not saying that you need 10+ inch hands like Russell Wilson or Ben Roethlisberger in order to be successful, but Pickett is so far below the threshold here that it’s scary.

I wish Kenny Pickett the best of luck in his professional career, and I’ll be interested to follow along with his journey. However, I worry that the Steelers would get locked into average QB play for the foreseeable future if they went with a low-upside player like Pickett, and I’m starting to think that this isn’t the way to go.