Kenny Pickett, if I'm reading things right, is making his first career start for the Steelers today.
We all know about Pickett's great stats at Pitt last year. But when I studied Pitt prior to the Peach Bowl last year, I was really, really impressed with everything about him. Zip, accuracy, quick processing, making all the throws, throwing on the run, able to improvise and create gems.
I remember showing Paul K some highlights on the laptop while we were in the airport headed down to Atlanta. Even though Pickett wasn't going to be playing, I was literally stopping in my tracks and sharing with Paul what I was seeing.
I was thinking this guy looks like an NFL QB if I've ever seen one. I mean John Elway ingredients. I told Paul that this is a guy the Lions should seriously, seriously consider with one of the top overall picks. A that time, we didn't know where in the draft the Lions would be selecting.
BUT THEN I heard all this stuff about his hands being small, and the percentage of QBs with small hands who have succeeded (which is zero or next to zero).
**
To me, it's all about frame of reference. We learn as we go in this business, as fans and media. That's frame of reference.
When there are such decided numbers in the NFL that go against small hands, I don't disregard those figures.
With Pickett, I feel like I'm going to learn something one way or another. The hand size thing is either going to gain credibility with me or lose credibility. I know there have been plenty of excellent college QBs who haven't made it in the NFL. But the stuff he showed last year, in my semi-educated opinion, looked as NFL-ready as almost anyone I've seen in college in the last 10 years. So we'll see if he can overcome the hand size thing.
We all know about Pickett's great stats at Pitt last year. But when I studied Pitt prior to the Peach Bowl last year, I was really, really impressed with everything about him. Zip, accuracy, quick processing, making all the throws, throwing on the run, able to improvise and create gems.
I remember showing Paul K some highlights on the laptop while we were in the airport headed down to Atlanta. Even though Pickett wasn't going to be playing, I was literally stopping in my tracks and sharing with Paul what I was seeing.
I was thinking this guy looks like an NFL QB if I've ever seen one. I mean John Elway ingredients. I told Paul that this is a guy the Lions should seriously, seriously consider with one of the top overall picks. A that time, we didn't know where in the draft the Lions would be selecting.
BUT THEN I heard all this stuff about his hands being small, and the percentage of QBs with small hands who have succeeded (which is zero or next to zero).
**
To me, it's all about frame of reference. We learn as we go in this business, as fans and media. That's frame of reference.
When there are such decided numbers in the NFL that go against small hands, I don't disregard those figures.
With Pickett, I feel like I'm going to learn something one way or another. The hand size thing is either going to gain credibility with me or lose credibility. I know there have been plenty of excellent college QBs who haven't made it in the NFL. But the stuff he showed last year, in my semi-educated opinion, looked as NFL-ready as almost anyone I've seen in college in the last 10 years. So we'll see if he can overcome the hand size thing.
