Weigh-in takeaways: Quarterbacks with big hands and receivers with big wingspans
INDIANAPOLIS — Big day for weigh-ins at the 2017 combine, because the quarterbacks hit the scales. In a nice moment of synergy, those numbers were revealed right as Cleveland coach Hue Jackson was saying during his press conference that he has a 6' 2" cutoff for his ideal QB.
“When you talk about profiles, you want a guy to be a certain height and a certain weight,” Jackson said. “It’s just a piece of it, but I think it’s important.”
All of Mitch Trubisky, Deshaun Watson, DeShone Kizer and Patrick Mahomes checked in at that height, or above, so there was no help to be found there in narrowing down the Browns’ options. A little more of what we learned from weigh-ins:
Mitch Trubisky (6' 2 1/8", 222 lbs., 9 1/2" hand size): This was the QB folks were most interested in tracking Thursday morning, because of some concern that he was closer to 6' 1" than 6' 3".
Nope.
For what it’s worth, Cleveland GM Sashi Brown contradicted Jackson yesterday, brushing off the notion that a QB needs to be a certain height. His exact response to a question about that topic was, “Just ask Drew Brees. Just ask Russell Wilson.”
The height conversation is now more or less irrelevant for Trubisky. His official hand size actually will be 9 4/8", because of National Football Scouting standards (and also because lol math), but we’ll simplify it down to 9 1/2" here.
DeShone Kizer (6' 4 1/4", 233 lbs., 9 7/8" hand size): True to his “big QB” reputation, Kizer checked in with a significant height edge on Trubisky, Mahomes and Watson. (Miami’s Brad Kaaya, for the record, landed at 6' 3 7/8"). For comparison’s sake, Carson Wentz measured 6' 5", 237 and Jared Goff 6' 4", 215 at last year’s event.
Kizer is expected to run pretty well, too, when the QBs take to the field Saturday, so he’s on track to exit Indianapolis in good shape.
Deshaun Watson (6' 2 1/2", 221 lbs., 9 3/4" hand size): Again, with the hand size thing—Watson’s official was 9 6/8". No big surprises in Watson’s numbers, though. We knew he was smaller than Kizer and he came in right in line with Trubisky and Mahomes.
Patrick Mahomes (6' 2", 225 lbs., 9 1/4" hand size): Mahomes’s hands are right on the cutoff point for where NFL teams can start to panic—at nine inches or below, ball security becomes a concern. Jackson spoke about this element at last year’s combine, mentioning how he preferred QBs with bigger hands given Cleveland’s cold-weather environment.
Given how Mahomes plays, and how he holds the ball when he’s escaping trouble behind the line, that 9 1/4" mark (9 2/8" officially) was a minor surprise. If you were taking bets ahead of time, most would have wagered on a bigger number.
Otherwise, keep it movin’. We’ll see how Mahomes times in the 40.
Corey Davis (6' 2 7/8", 209 lbs.): These are great numbers for Davis, who will not work out here due to a lingering ankle injury. The height especially jumps out, right at the 6' 3" level. That’ll be good enough for teams to solidify their projections of Davis as a No. 1 or No. 2 receiver at the next level.
Mike Williams (6' 3 5/8", 218 lbs.): The size was no secret here—Williams looks like, and plays like, a big wide receiver on the outside. He also just missed the 80-inch mark in wingspan (79 7/8"). All just serves as confirmation of Williams’s game.
Curtis Samuel (5' 10 5/8", 196 lbs.): For a player who could be making a full-time move to slot receiver at the next level, this counts as a solid height/weight combo. Corey Coleman (5' 11", 194) and Sterling Shepard (5' 10", 194) are comparable receivers from last year’s class. Samuel will not be seen by any teams as an every-down back, so there should be very few durability concerns about him as a movable slot piece.
Oh, and just wait until he challenges the 4.3s in the 40.
David Njoku (6' 4", 246 lbs.): An excellent height/weight for the rising tight end. But here's the real eye-opener: 82 1/2" wingspan. Eighty-two! He's a propeller plane that also can catch passes.
Only slightly outdone was Alabama TE O.J. Howard, a likely early-Round 1 pick. He measured with an 80 5/8" wingspan, on a 6' 5 3/4", 251-lb. frame.
