Seahawks might be eyeing Kenny Pickett as Russell Wilson’s replacement

University of Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett had his pro day on Monday. Nine teams were there to watch Pickett run drills including the Seattle Seahawks.

Seattle, of course, might be thinking of taking a quarterback with their first pick – number 9 overall – in the 2022 NFL draft. The Seahawks have so many needs, though, the quarterback position should be lower on their list of draft priorities, if for no other reason there is no sure-thing in this year’s draft at QB.

Kenny Pickett had an outstanding senior season and he was in his fifth year in college. He has some excellent attributes for an NFL, such as lots of experience in college and he appears to be a good leader.

Kenny Pickett could be great for the Seahawks except for one small issue

Yet, his hand size is a real issue. Most NFL teams see 9 inches at the minimum for what they want in a quarterback. There are several reasons for this. Maybe the two most important are 1) his ability to hold on to the ball while getting hit and not fumbling (imagine Jared Goff who fumbles a lot) and 2) being able to grip the ball in cold, windy and raining weather.

The last part is where the Seahawks really need to weigh weather versus Pickett’s ability, of course. It’s going to drizzle a lot in Seattle. Wind can also be a factor, too, obviously but there will certainly be a lot of moisture.

The odd thing is that Pickett’s hand seems to have grown since the NFL combine. At the combine, his hand was measured at 8 1/2 inches. On Monday, his hand was measured at 8 5/8 inches. Bigger but still small for most NFL teams.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1505989906111381505

But there should be no concern with Pickett’s arm strength. He has a cannon for an arm. Pickett also was extremely productive at Pitt in 2021 with 42 touchdown passes against just 7 interceptions and for 4,319 yards. This is production at a high level of college as opposed to someone like Malik Willis who has lots of potential but played against sub-par competition in college at Liberty.

Pickett also has good size as he is 6 feet and 3 inches and weighs 220 pounds. In fact, the only real issue is his hand size. He probably will be a good NFL quarterback one day but with his hand size and Seattle’s drizzle, Pickett likely won’t be wearing a Seahawks uniform.