I ask this because I remember that Byron Leftwich had what would be considered small hands, especially for his size (and he also had small feet for that matter)....and we saw how he turned out....and I have read that Bridgewater also has small hands. 

 

Does anyone know of any examples of QB who had small hands yet wound up as a successful NFL QB?

 

I know that Johnny Football, despite his short height, has big hands and big feet.

 

Small hands was more of a detriment for Leftwich because he was so slow in his passing delivery as well as with his  mobility. Thus, resulting in a lot of fumbles. 

 

Its possible that the small hands thing won't be as big of a deal for a QB like Teddy, but I'd like to see some examples that also back this up. 

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I heard Marino had small hands.  Don't know if it is true though. 

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Daunte Culpepper was the poster child of "small hands" QB in the recent/modern NFL.

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I always think of that Leftwich run he had while backing up Ben. Just too funny

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Daunte Culpepper was the poster child of "small hands" QB in the recent/modern NFL.

 

Yeah, and outside of having a HOF WR in Cris Carter paired with Randy Moss on the other side, Culpepper wasn't that good. 

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I always think of that Leftwich run he had while backing up Ben. Just too funny

 

Remember the Leftwich split?? Just embarrassing. 

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When I saw the subject title I thought you asked the question because it was discussed in my "Why does size matter so much?" thread and laughed.

 

Byron Leftwich had a long delivery method like Tim Tebow. That was the biggest knock on Tebow leading up to the 2010 draft. So you have to look at when he fumbled it during pass attempts if Leftwich had a problem with that.

 

As I said in my 16-page thread, John Madden said Jon Kitna has small hands. He knew that by shaking his right one. Do you remember Kitna having a fumbling problem? I don't, and I saw him play a lot for the Bengals.

 

But don't get me wrong. I think bigger is better for the hands of centers, quarterbacks, eligible receivers, and defensive backs. Like being short, some quarterbacks don't have a problem with it while others could have used a few more inches.

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Yeah, and outside of having a HOF WR in Cris Carter paired with Randy Moss on the other side, Culpepper wasn't that good. 

 

Hard to tell. Surely having those two catching passes for you helps a lot, but Culpepper was not without talent. Strong arm, good size, good mobility. You don't throw for nearly 40 TDs while limiting to 11 INTs if you're not good (and this was after Carter). He may not have been elite, but I think he was a fringe franchise QB in his own merit.

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at JW....I also don't rememver Kitna being all that good. 

 

Solid backup, yeah...

 

I'm asking for examples of top flight NFL QB that had what were considered small hands. 

 

Someone mentioned Marino, there was no accompanying link or proof backing the Marino claim up. Not saying it isn't true, just that I'll need to try and investigate. 

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Hard to tell. Surely having those two catching passes for you helps a lot, but Culpepper was not without talent. Strong arm, good size, good mobility. You don't throw for nearly 40 TDs while limiting to 11 INTs if you're not good (and this was after Carter). He may not have been elite, but I think he was a fringe franchise QB in his own merit.

 

C'mon you remember how it was with Moss.....chuck it up and Moss would usually come down with it. Plus Randy's speed opened up lots underneath for the already independently great Carter. Pepp had it easy in Minnesota with those 2. I think many QB could have put up similar TD numbers as Pepp with that duo starting. 

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At JW: I also don't rememver Kitna being all that good. 

 

Solid backup, yeah...

 

I'm asking for examples of top flight NFL QB that had what were considered small hands. 

 

Someone mentioned Marino, there was no accompanying link or proof backing the Marino claim up. Not saying it isn't true, just that I'll need to try and investigate. 

 

I know Kitna was not a great quarterback, but you mentioned Leftwich.

 

Why is it that we never hear commentators talk about the size of a quarterback's hand? I never heard how many inches long a quarterback's hand is.

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It's a legit worry if under 9". The modern poster boy for small hands is Tyler Wilson. Going into the season two years ago he was thought of as the probable #1 QB, if he could fix the odd fluttering of his deep balls. Once everyone realized that it wasn't getting better there was presumption that he might have small hands. This turned out to be true as he measured in at 8 3/4", under the magic number of 9". Obviously the rest is history. Small hand size is probably the number one reason that he is now out of the league. 

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It's a legit worry if under 9". The modern poster boy for small hands is Tyler Wilson. Going into the season two years ago he was thought of as the probable #1 QB, if he could fix the odd fluttering of his deep balls. Once everyone realized that it wasn't getting better there was presumption that he might have small hands. This turned out to be true as he measured in at 8 3/4", under the magic number of 9". Obviously the rest is history. Small hand size is probably the number one reason that he is now out of the league.

Also concussion issues might have had something to do with it

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Also concussion issues might have had something to do with it

 

Are you saying this as an aside, or trying to dispute that hand size is important for a QB?

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It's a legit worry if under 9". The modern poster boy for small hands is Tyler Wilson. Going into the season two years ago he was thought of as the probable #1 QB, if he could fix the odd fluttering of his deep balls. Once everyone realized that it wasn't getting better there was presumption that he might have small hands. This turned out to be true as he measured in at 8 3/4", under the magic number of 9". Obviously the rest is history. Small hand size is probably the number one reason that he is now out of the league. 

 

Do they now measure all QB hands at the combine?

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Do they now measure all QB hands at the combine?

Yes. There was a website that kept record of all combine measurements but the name escapes me.

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"Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot."

yes

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Are you saying this as an aside, or trying to dispute that hand size is important for a QB?

As an aside, he took a bunch of big hits his senior year and had multiple concussions through college. That combined with small hands didn't help his NFL chances.


Hand size is important though a QB needs to be able to hold onto the ball and small hands can go hand in hand with being vulnerable when it comes to turnovers. Small handed QBs typically don't get drafted high. in recent years iirc the highest a QB with hands below 9" got drafted is the 4th round.

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C'mon you remember how it was with Moss.....chuck it up and Moss would usually come down with it. Plus Randy's speed opened up lots underneath for the already independently great Carter. Pepp had it easy in Minnesota with those 2. I think many QB could have put up similar TD numbers as Pepp with that duo starting. 

 

But as I said, Culpepper's best years arguably was the one without Carter. It was Moss and Burleson as his starting WRs. There are two concerns with small hands: as said above not being able to grip the ball and affecting the deep ball or fumbles. Culpepper had problems with fumbles, but not with deep balls. On the other hand, the concern with Teddy is with his deep ball.

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Also concussion issues might have had something to do with it

It's definitely part of the reason why he dropped in the draft, but he never had one in the NFL IIRC so I doubt it had anything to do with him being beat out by Terrelle Pryor and Matt friggin McGloin.

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