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REST OF THE STORYWhy a quarterback's hand size matters to the NFL
Brett Favre's big hands influenced the way the Packers evaluated QBs, says one former assistant.
The Sporting News
By Bruce Feldman @brucefeldmancfb Feb 22, 2016 at 4:14p ET
It’s Combine week, and hundreds of NFL evaluators will be watching closely to get a better gauge on everything. Pretty much every player in Indy has gone to various Combine training places to improve on, among other things: their 40s, their shuttle times, their vertical jumps, the amount of times they can bench press 225 pounds and how well they can present their football savvy in a classroom setting.
Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen has worked diligently on all those things at a camp in South Florida. In addition, he’s also worked on something else -- trying to increase his hand size. Well, more specifically, his hand measurement.
The size of a quarterback’s hand has gained increased attention in the past few years. For my book "The QB: The Making of Modern Quarterbacks,” I spoke with Tom Rossley, who was the Green Bay Packers’ former offensive coordinator and later recruited Johnny Manziel to Texas A&M when he was the Aggies’ quarterbacks coach. Rossley said one of the first things they looked at when they evaluated quarterbacks in Green Bay was how big their hands were, "because of how Brett (Favre) was and how well he could play in cold weather,” Rossley said. “That’s such a key with handling the ball, controlling the ball, and with the snap coming out. The size of a quarterback’s hands is even more important than his height."
Favre’s hands were measured by the NFL years ago (from thumb tip to pinkie tip) at 10 3⁄8 inches. For comparison’s sake, Tony Romo’s hand was measured at 8.88 inches. Anything bigger than 9 1⁄2 is considered large for an NFL QB prospect.
At the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., last month, Allen’s hands were measured at 8 1/2 inches -- the smallest of all the QBs there.
"It’s obviously something I can’t control,” Allen said, before adding that as part of his draft training process, the masseuse who helps the athletes with recovery has also been working twice a week on stretching out the QB’s hands “to maybe get another 1/2 inch or 1/4 inch here or there because the muscles in my hands were really tight and this can loosen them up. I have long fingers.
While many may figure the biggest issue with small hands manifests itself in fumbling, the coaches and personnel people FOX Sports spoke with say it’s really more about being able to grip and throw the ball in inclement weather.
Allen, Arkansas’ career touchdown passes leader with 64, actually had decent fumble numbers in college. In 2015, he had four fumbles and lost one. For comparison sake, that’s the exact same numbers that Cal’s Jared Goff had. Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott, who played in the same division as Allen and had some of the biggest hands at the Senior Bowl at 9 7/8, fumbled nine times and lost four in 2015.
Virginia Tech’s Logan Thomas, who has some of the biggest hands for a QB that NFL personnel people have measured in years -- 10 7/8 inches -- fumbled nine times in his final college season, losing three of them. Check the NFL totals on the guys who fumble the most and it’s hard to draw much of a parallel to hand size. Drew Brees, who has very big mitts, fumbles at almost the same rate as Tony Romo. Russell Wilson, another guy with very big hands (10 1/4), has fumbled at a much higher rate than Alex Smith (9 3/8 inches) has over the past three seasons.
Two years ago one of the hottest topics in the run-up to the NFL Draft was the supposed dismal performance Teddy Bridgewater had at his pro day. The former Louisville star had opted not to wear a glove on his throwing hand even though he wears one when he plays. That triggered even more focus on Bridgewater’s hands, which were measured at 9 1/4 inches, the smallest of any of the top QB prospects who were coming out for the draft that year. At the time ESPN researched that since 2008 there had been 39 quarterbacks who had been measured with a hand size of 9 1/4 or smaller; less than one-fifth o them had even gone on to start half a season in the NFL and none had made a Pro Bowl.
Bridgewater, who completed 68 percent of his passes and had a 14-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio on third downs at Louisville, lasted until the 32nd pick of the first round. The Vikings drafted Bridgewater, who won Rookie of the Year honors and was selected to the Pro Bowl in his second season.
