Pitt's Kenny Pickett posts bigger hand measurement at pro day than at combine

Just when football fans thought they might be finished speaking and thinking about the hand measurements delivered by former Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback and projected first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett, the topic reappeared on the first Monday of spring. 

Pickett did his best in February to dismiss concerns about his hand size and ability to protect the football while facing NFL defenses but then raised eyes when he posted a measurement of 8 1/2 inches, smaller than any active quarterback currently in the league, at the combine. As Dan Parr noted for the NFL's website, however, Pickett's hand apparently grew over the past 18 days and measured 8 5/8 inches at his pro day session on Monday. 

Pickett didn't have his hands measured at the Senior Bowl in part so he could perform exercises and stretches that would ideally improve the number ahead of the upcoming NFL Draft. 

"Yeah, hopefully put the questions to bed," Pickett remarked to NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala when asked about the measurement after his pro day workout. "If people have more questions, I don't know what else to say, what else to do. But yeah, it is what it is."

For a piece published on March 1, ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. listed Pickett as the top quarterback in his draft class and compared the signal-caller to "a combo of Derek Carr/Andy Dalton." In a mock draft updated over the weekend, Kyle Stackpole of CBS Sports predicted the Carolina Panthers will take Pickett sixth overall after they missed out on Deshaun Watson, who waived his no-trade clause to go to the Cleveland Browns.