Not a whole lot surprising at today’s measurement ad weigh-in session at the Senior Bowl in Mobile. In fact, the most anticipated figure of the week never happened. That involved Pitt QB Kenny Pickett’s hand size which has been reported as very small. However, Pickett apparently decided to keep the story alive at least until the combine next month as he appears to have declined to have his hand his measured. Pickett, who measured in at a respectable 6-3, 217, though, does have short arms at barely over 30.5 inches. And speaking of ‘barely over’ fellow QBs Malik Willis of Liberty, Northy Carolina’s Sam Howell and Bailey Zappe of Western Kentucky each measured in at just a tad over 6-flat. At the same time, Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder also measured in at 6-3, but weighed a very lean 207. Bottom line, this is a small QB class.
Among the RBs Alabama’s Brian Robinson certainly looked the part of the top rated back in Mobile as he measured in at a solid 6-1.5 and 226 pounds. Baylor’s Abram Smith also looked the part at 5-11, 211, but had me scouts calling for a re-measure when his hand size was announced at just a bit over 7.5 inches, which is one of the smallest ever on record for a big-time football player. Meanwhile, several WRs passed the eyeball test. Cincinnati’s Alec Pierce, for example, who measured in at 6-2.5 with 32.5-inch arms impressed with his length. Same for Christian Watson of North Dakota State who measured in at 6-4 with 10-inch plus hands and 32.7 inch arms. And same with Romeo Doubs of Nevada who is 6-2 with 32-inch plus arms and 10-inch plus hands. There is also a very good looking group of TEs in Mobile this week. Charlie Kolar of Iowa State, though, probably was the standout, at least in shorts, as he came in at 6-6, 256, with 10-inch plus hands and 34-inch arms. Meanwhile, Trey McBride of Colorado State and Coastal Carolina’s Isaiah Likely, the two top-rated TEs at the Senior Bowl this week were generally able to check off most of the boxes, although at 6-3, 250, McBride may be a little smaller than people expected, although he’s also got 10-inch hands and 32.5 inch arms. On the other hand, nobody expected Likely to be that bulky, so 241 at 6-4 was okay for him, while he also has 10-inch hands and 32.25-inch arms.
While the operative word for this year’s QB class is ‘small’ that is not the case for the offensive line which features some big lads. And the biggest of the big is Minnesota OT Daniel Faalele who truly did block out the sun as he measured in at 6-8, 387 (not a misprint!!) with huge 11-inch mitts and 35-inch hands. Same for Washington State OT Abraham Lucas who came in at 6-6, 332, with almost 10.5-inch hands and 34.5 armsand Trevor Penning of Northern Iowa at 6-7, 330, with 34.7″ arms and 10.25-inch hands. There were also a couple of big small-school OTs that stood out at the weigh-in and may have scouts going back to the tapes for a second look in Braxton Jones of Southern Utah (6-5, 306, with 36-inch arms) and Matt Waletzko of North Dakota (6-7, 310, with 35″ arms). And Tennessee OF Cade Mays also got in on the act as he measured in at 6-4.5, 321 with 34″ arms which is excellent for an interior offensive lineman. A couple of other notes on the offensive line. Central Michigan’s Bernhard Rainman, a rising star in this year’s draft class was 6-6 with 10.5-inch hands, but weighed a lightish 304 and featured only 33-inch arms. Meanwhile, Georgia G/T Jamaree Salyer probably answered the question whether he’s an OG or OT when he measured in with just 32.5-inch arms.
There is also a pretty impressive group of defensive linemen in Mobile this week which should set up an interesting week of practice battles between the two. DTs Perrion Winfrey of Oklahoma, Phil Mathis of Alabama and UCLA’s Otito Ogbonni, for example, were all able to check off the box they needed to with maybe an extra star thrown in. Winfrey, for example, measured in at 6-3.5, 303 with 10.5 inch hands and 35.5-inch arms, while Mathis was almost as impressive at 6-3.7, 331 with 10.25 hands and 34.5-inch hands. The Bruins Ogbinno, meanwhile, was something of a revelation at 6-3.5, 326 with 35-inch plus arms and 10-inch hands. The DEs weren’t quite as impressive aoverall, but there was no question that South Carolina’s JJ Enagbare checked off all the boxes as he measured in at 6-3.5, 261 with 10.25-inch hands and 35″ arms. Cam Thomas of San Diego also looked good at 6-4, 265, with 10-inch hands and 33-inch arms.
We would also have been tempted to include LBs Arnold Ebikitie of Penn State and Florida State’s Jermaine Johnson among the DES as they are primarily edge rushers. Indeed, Ebikitie impressed with 10.5-inch hands and 34″ arms, but maybe was a tad smaller than expected at 6-2.5 and barely 250, while Johnson checked off all the boxes at 6-4.5 and 260 with 34.5″ arms. There were also a couple of notable players among the DBs. On the one hand, Auburn CB Roger McCreary was big enough at 5-11, 190, but came in with very short arms under 30-inches. On the other hand, unheralded Texas-San Antonio CB Tariq Woolen turned some heads at 6-3, 205 with 33.5-inch arms.
