The Combine offers the top talents in the draft the opportunity to present themselves to the scouts of the NFL teams. The young stars are also closely scrutinised off the field and always make for curious topics.

Munich – Thursday marked the Combine for the first group of top talent in the upcoming NFL Draft.

The quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends got to show off their skills under the eyes of NFL scouts and a few spectators at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. One story created a lot of buzz even before the talent show.

Quarterback talent Kenny Pickett: Excitement over hand size

At the Combine, height, weight and other measurements are also taken on all talent. Here, small details, especially in relation to the position group, can decide in which round at the draft the talents are selected.

This year, quarterback prospect Kenny Pickett caused a stir. When his hands were measured, he was found to have relatively small hands for an NFL playmaker, with a hand size of 8.5 inches (21.59 centimetres). If he were to suit up for an NFL team next season, he would have the smallest hands of any active quarterback in the league.

The reason this detail has been talked about so much in hindsight is because Pickett struggled with fumbles more often in college. According to some experts, that’s why he’s considered one of the losers of the first day at the Combine, despite his otherwise flawless performance.

With no quarterback drafted in the first round since 2003 whose hands were smaller than 9 inches, Pickett’s stock is in danger of falling significantly before the draft. He could, however, find hope in super-talented Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, who led his team to the Super Bowl in the second NFL season ever.

There were doubts about him, too, before the 2020 draft because of his slightly smaller hand size of 9 inches. The Bengals took the risk anyway and were ultimately rewarded. Moreover, the size of the hand can also be expanded through stretching exercises in individual cases. Bengals backup playmaker Brandon Allen was able to increase his hands by just under half an inch before the 2016 Combine, as he later stated.

Offensive tackle Evan Neal: Muscle mountain made flesh

Even though offensive tackle Evan Neal, considered one of the biggest O-line talents in this class, won’t be at the 2022 Combine, he made quite an impact up front. At almost 153 kilograms, the future protector of an NFL quarterback brings quite a bit of mass to the field.

What is particularly impressive is that at first glance it is not necessarily obvious how stocky the 21-year-old is. During his TV appearances and press conference, he presented himself in top form and stated that he had even lost some weight.

Evan Neal at 337 pounds. Wow. https://t.co/a6sGKZxKoN

– Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 3, 2022

Wide receivers impress with speed

This year, teams can again look forward to some wide receiver talent that has the makings of a true NFL star at their position. In the process, this year’s class impressed with one particular skill: speed.

On average, the receiver talents of 2022 ran the prestigious 40-yard dash in 4.48 seconds. Since 2003, no other position group at the Combine has been able to put up such a number as they did this year.

NOUVEAU RECORD !!!
Tyquan Thornton vient de courir le 40 yards en 4 secondes 21 grosse perf pour le receveur de Baylor qui fait grimper son stock pic.twitter.com/eqPFwocvm5

– NFL Arena (@NFL_Arena) March 4, 2022

Speedster Tyquan Thornton in particular caused quite a stir. He briefly set a new Combine record with an unofficial time of 4.21 seconds before being corrected up to 4.28 seconds. Still, his chances of being selected in the front rounds should not have diminished in any case.

Prospects embarrass themselves at GM question

About a week before the Combine, US magazine “The Athletic” conducted a poll of 50 of the best talents in this year’s draft. One question in particular should have made team officials prick up their ears.

Can you name an NFL general manager? We asked 50 draft prospects that last week for our Combine Confidential. Only 19 could, and half those named Jerry Jones. “That’s something I have to work on this week.” More here: https://t.co/ek5upN4mm8

– Greg Auman (@gregauman) March 3, 2022

So only 19 of the 50 participants could name an active general manager in the NFL. It is precisely those GMs who are currently conducting the interviews with the talents together with the coaches in the run-up to the draft in order to get a personal picture.

The fact that a large number of the talents do not know their potential future superiors therefore seems all the more bizarre. According to the report, several talents subsequently admitted that they still have some catching up to do here.