Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia's Senior Bowl measurements another example of colleges lying about players' sizes before NFL Draft

At the 2023 combine, Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young was measured at 5-foot-10, 204 pounds. During his final season with the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2022, the school listed the 2023 No. 1 pick at 6-foot, 194 pounds. 

Why is this a common practice? 

Most NFL scouts know not to trust college measurements, but schools still alter the numbers to make their players more appealing to the league. The more players it can send to the pros, the more players it can land in recruiting and the transfer portal. 

Height is far more critical for QBs than for other positions. Teams covet a passer who can see over defenses and won't have his passes batted at the line of scrimmage. 

Pavia's measurements at the Senior Bowl hurt his draft stock. They're not close to prototypical NFL size. For context, New England Patriots star second-year QB Drake Maye is 6-foot-4, 225 pounds. 

Pair concerns about his height with questions about his ability to read defenses, and that may make more teams pass on him in the 2026 draft, scheduled April 23-25 in Pittsburgh. NFL Mock Draft Database projects that he's a seventh-rounder. 

"There were situations where defenses shifted their coverages or rolled defenders late into places that Pavia wasn't able to identify," wrote The Draft Network in a preseason scouting report. "This resulted in negative plays or turnovers."

In 2025, Pavia was named a Heisman finalist after throwing 29 touchdown passes in 13 games and leading Vanderbilt to a 10-3 record. But figure on his NFL career falling short of the heights he reached in college.