The Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL are poised on the dawn of a new draft. This time last year, Steelers fans were waiting expectantly to see who they were going to take with the first pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. The team chose Kenny Pickett, a quarterback out of the University of Pittsburgh. However, one of the critiques that Pickett faced prior to the draft and prior to the start of the season was about his hand size.
Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Steelers' face of the franchise, quarterback, Kenny Pickett.
Now Pickett addresses that concern and talks about how much he let the media gossip get in his head.
Steelers' Kenny Pickett Worked On Stretching His Hands
First, a little back story for context. When Pickett was measured for the combine in 2022, it was immediately noted that his hands were smaller than any other quarterback currently in the NFL. This isn't the first time hand size has come up and it won't be the last. Pickett's right hand, his throwing hand, measured 8 1/2 inches.
Prior to Pickett, Taysom Hill, who was a quarterback and is now a tight end with the New Orleans Saints, held this dubious honor. Hill measured 8 3/4 inches prior to the 2017 draft.
Pickett was a stand-out player at Pitt, a Heisman Trophy finalist, and the winner of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm in 2021. He was widely viewed as the top quarterback in the 2022 draft.
During his time at Pitt, he set records, breaking ones previously held by the great Dan Marino - and finished with the most 300 and 400-yard passing games in school history.
Pitt Athletics
Former NFL legend Dan Marino once played at the University of Pittsburgh.
Fellow ACF North quarterback Joe Burrow has led his team to a Super Bowl and was subjected to the "hand talk" when he was drafted in 2020. Burrow went number one in the draft despite having hands that measure only nine inches.
Now Pickett joins former Steelers safety Ryan Clark, and former Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder on the Pivot Podcast and gets the last laugh about the hand size discussion. Clark and Crowder asked Pickett how much he worried about it.
"By the way, your hands are at least my size or bigger," said Clark. "I'll be honest, I'm going back to the film and I'm like man, if it affects his game, I don't know how. I see that people will look at him and try to critique him and they try to break you down."
Crowder jokingly asks, "Does the hand-size stuff get on your nerves? Because like (mimicking critics) you're too slow, you're not accurate, yeah do you sit and look at your hands like, 'Come on motherf***ers!'"
Pickett admits that he attempted to get his hand to stretch some. He participated in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, a few weeks prior to the combine. It is typical for quarterbacks to have their hands measured at both events, but he elected not to have his measured at the Senior Bowl. When asked about it then he said he was waiting for the combine.
"The reason I didn't measure at the Senior Bowl was just to have those extra couple weeks, just kind of a commonsense thing, to have more time working the exercises," Pickett said. "Whatever it measures, it measures, I'm sure that won't be the end of it, but that will be the last measurement I'm sure I'll take of it."
He told Crowder and Clark that he knew he couldn't please everyone.
"I stretched them out a little bit man. I was doing some exercises. I got them I think it was like eight and a half at the combine. I got like eight and five-eighths or something at Pro Day so whatever that's worth, I was trying everything I could. I was sleeping in a splint to like stretch my hand out. I'll do whatever it takes, I'll do whatever. But like you said, it's something you can't really control, so at the end of the day, I'm like, I'm just gonna go throw."
AP
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Kenny Pickett throws a pass during the second coldest game at Heinz Field/Acrisure Stadium ever against the Las Vegas Raiders.
And in the end, throwing was all that mattered. Pickett improved dramatically as the season went on with him ultimately throwing more touchdowns than interceptions and continually improving his accuracy. The talk among the media shifted from, "he can't be accurate with those tiny hands" to "we might have ourselves something special." It's great to see that Pickett can joke about it and even better that he got the last laugh.
"I played in the second coldest game in Heinz Field history against the Raiders and you know we won the two-minute drill. We did all right. There's always something, once they find something in that draft process, they're gonna hammer it home until the draft, so you just hear about all the negatives and not much of the positives. If I could have any advice to the guys doing it, just keep working and it all works out."
How much were you buying into the hype that his hands were too small? Did you believe that, were you concerned? Do you feel Pickett addressed or quieted the critics with his rookie season? What are you hoping to see out of him this season? Click to comment below.
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