We may never know if Bridgewater’s hands really caused his stock to plummet, but there’s at least a decent chance that it played a role — as dumb as it was.
Enter Kenny Pickett. Pickett isn’t nearly as attractive a prospect as Bridgewater. He had a great season for Pitt, but nobody has been as sold on Pickett as they were on Bridgewater. Now we get to the hand size. Pickett’s hands measured 8.5”, believed to be the smallest of any top QB prospect ... ever.
It’s clear Pickett was aware he was going to suffer the same draft fate as Bridgewater, which is why he didn’t allow his hands to be measured at the Senior Bowl. Instead, Pickett made an excuse that a double-jointed thumb Mut 24 coins wouldn’t adequately return an accurate hand measurement, which I’ll give top marks for creativity, if nothing else.
Pickett didn’t blow anyone away with a 4.73 in the 40, and while he was accurate in throwing drills, there was nothing he did that was spectacular enough to change anyone’s mind.
Pickett has a really good arm, an Madden NFL 24 arm, but not a cannon. All of this, paired with the surreal argument about his hands, could push him down the board unfairly. From top-to-bottom this weekend was about sealing his spot as the No. 1 QB in this class, and that didn’t happen. In fact, Pickett has likely been jumped by the next player we’re talking about.
Nobody had a better weekend in Indianapolis that Malik Willis, given the stakes. It’s been a hell of a pre-draft process for Willis in general, and that only intensified at the combine.
When I first mocked Willis to Atlanta at No. 8 earlier this year it caused a lot of drama. I’ve never gotten that much hate over a single pick, but I’ll take a lap now because it’s been vindicated. Willis is by no means a perfect, polished prospect — but my goodness the raw talent he’s put on display turned heads.
It started at the Senior Bowl, where he showed the speed to be a major threat in the run game. Then, his mystique grew when he was spotted handing out clothes to a person in need on the streets of Indianapolis, confirming the high character praise that’s been hoisted on him.
Willis then uncorked the prettiest throw of the weekend later than night during passing drills. While Willis didn’t run the 40, he’s shown enough football madden 24 coins for sale speed to mitigate it. Then reports emerged Sunday that he scored high on the Wonderlic, an inherently unfair measure of intelligence — but another bar he passed.