INDIANAPOLIS — Kenny Pickett always knew he’d reach this stage. He might not have known his hand size would be such a hot-button topic. But Pitt’s Heisman Trophy finalist drew a crowd at the NFL combine on Wednesday morning, fielding nearly 30 questions in a 15-minute media session — doing so with the poise and perspective one would expect from arguably the draft’s top quarterback prospect.
“(The NFL) has been a dream of mine since I can remember. Going back to when I first picked up a football, my first memories of football, watching on Sundays with my family, having friends come over. It’s just a dream of mine,” Pickett said at the Indiana Convention Center with a horde of reporters looking on. “To be sitting here, it’s surreal. But it’s everything I expected to do. I’m right where I should be.”
This week, Pickett is at the epicenter of the football world. Executives and coaches have descended on the Circle City like they do every year to interview and evaluate the best draft prospects. Pickett, after guiding Pitt to an ACC championship and achieving individual accolades in the process, is one of the most talked-about players in town.
And yes — as ridiculous as it may sound — one of those reasons is the issue of Pickett’s hand size. The combine is an event in which many obsess over minute details, including how big or small quarterbacks’ hands are. The former Panther raised eyebrows when he declined to have his hands measured at the Senior Bowl in February, choosing to wait until this week. Pickett has a double-jointed thumb and opted to use the time between Mobile and now to undergo stretching exercises.
Pickett will have his hands measured on Thursday. He’ll also throw, take part in the 40-yard dash and other drills. But Pickett — like Joe Burrow in 2020 and Patrick Mahomes in 2017 — has had to discuss his hand size throughout the draft process. Wednesday was no different.
“Whatever it measures, it measures,” Pickett said before cracking a smile. “I’m sure that won’t be the last of it. But it’ll be the last measurement I take of it.”
Pickett emphasized that “your tape is your resume” when asked about how he performed in bad weather in Pittsburgh and the ACC. Pickett, who wears gloves on both hands, recorded 4,319 passing yards and 42 touchdown passes last season.
As much as it was a topic during the media session, Pickett admitted “there wasn’t much talk” about his hand size in the meetings he’s had with teams in Indy. “I think the media runs with it more than I’d say NFL teams do,” Pickett added. “... It is what it is.”
Pickett had plenty of meetings, too. He interviewed with the Falcons, who hold the eighth overall pick and could be looking for Matt Ryan’s successor. He met with the Broncos, who pick ninth and would be “a great fit.”
He caught up with the Panthers and head coach Matt Rhule, who recruited Pickett while at Temple. The New Jersey native verbally committed to the Owls in 2016 before flipping to Pitt. “It was all smiles when we first saw each other walking into the room,” Pickett said of Rhule, who drafts sixth overall and needs a quarterback. “We kind of picked up where we left off.”
Pickett also acknowledged that he’s met with the Steelers multiple times throughout the draft process. Pickett said it would be “really special” to return to Heinz Field and play in the city he starred in as a Panther. The Steelers have “more of a hands-on, visual look” at him, not just from film, considering his half-decade at Pitt and the facility both programs share. Pickett even said he and head coach Mike Tomlin built “a pretty special relationship” during his time on the South Side.
“There are those benches when we come off the practice field, and he’d always come over and hang out with us for a little bit in the summer,” Pickett recalled. “I remember the first time as a freshman, watching Antonio Brown and Ben (Roethlisberger) out there, and he would come and sit down and hang out. I wouldn’t leave the bench till he left. It’s been five years, so a long time that I’ve known coach.”
Whether that familiarity leads to the Steelers drafting Pickett at 20th overall — or moving up to get him — he’ll have to wait until April 28 to find out.
Naturally, Pickett believes he should be the first quarterback off the board, ahead of Liberty’s Malik Willis, Ole Miss’ Matt Corral and others. The reigning ACC Player of the Year will be 24 years old when the 2022 season starts, so a franchise with a win-now mindset might be a better fit than a rebuild. But Pickett is confident he will be able to adapt and succeed in whatever offense he’s drafted into.
A part of that confidence stems from Pickett’s longtime relationship with Mark Whipple, Pitt’s former offensive coordinator. Whipple, now the play-caller at Nebraska, was key in Pickett’s decision to return to Pitt in 2021. The two have stayed in touch throughout the pre-draft process, with the former NFL assistant coach providing answers for all the questions Pickett has thrown his way.
Pickett also noted that Whipple’s West Coast offense — a system that generated 41.4 points per game, third-most in college football last season — had him well-prepared for the X’s and O’s tests during interviews with NFL coaches and executives.
Pickett was also confident in those meetings because that’s who he is. Going all the way back to his upset of Miami in 2017, Pickett has backed himself from the jump.
Whenever and wherever he ends up, Pickett intends to go in, compete and be the best version of himself. Until then, he’s trying to enjoy the moment and this process. That includes this week in Indianapolis.
“I always said I’d go and do it. I had the confidence I would be here on this stage one way or another,” Pickett said. “My road wasn’t three years. I had to do five years. Not six years; I know a lot of people think I’ve been in college for six. Everyone’s journey is different. I just knew I’d be in this seat right here. I had the belief from day one.”
