Joe Burrow's hand measurement is going to be a big topic of conversation

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer
Updated ·3 min read

You know it’s NFL scouting combine week when we hear talk of how big a quarterback’s hands are.

One of the more curious phenomena of the combine coverage is the overreaction to hand size. Good or bad, you’re going to hear more about how big a quarterback’s hands are than you ever expected.

In the case of presumptive first overall pick Joe Burrow, the news of his hand measurement will be a part of the conversation surrounding his draft stock. And the news was not great.

LSU quarterback Joe Burrow will be a focal point of the NFL scouting combine this week. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
LSU quarterback Joe Burrow will be a focal point of the NFL scouting combine this week. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Joe Burrow’s hands are considered small

Burrow’s hands were measured at 9 inches from the tip of his thumb to his pinkie, which is considered small for a quarterback.

That is smaller than the other top prospects in this quarterback class, including Tua Tagovailoa, whose hands were curiously measured at different sizes.

And while there are a lot of jokes about the absurdity of the attention paid to hand size for quarterbacks, it matters to some NFL evaluators.

Burrow pokes fun at measurement

Burrow chimed in on the measurement Monday evening, joking that he is “considering retirement” because of his “tiny hands.”

He also got sympathy from at least one NFL quarterback.

Will Bengals care about Burrow’s hands?

Jared Goff also had a 9-inch hand. He still went No. 1 overall in the draft and has had a good start to his career with the Los Angeles Rams.

Nine inches seems to be the cutoff before NFL evaluators really freak out, though some believe that’s too small to play in inclement weather. It’s not ideal if Burrow goes to the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 1 overall. We’ll see if the Bengals care how big Burrow’s hands are (though we still don’t seem to know for sure if Burrow wants to play in Cincinnati either).

Regardless, we know it’s combine week. When else would hand measurements matter so much?

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