Colin Cowherd has had it with the Kenny Pickett hand size discussion

Kenny Pickett helped lead Pittsburgh to the ACC Championship. He was named an All-ACC First Team quarterback and was even named an All-American in his senior season in 2021.

Despite all of the accolades the former Pittsburgh Panther achieved during his storied collegiate career, we're stuck here talking about the man's hands.

Radio personality Colin Cowherd is among the many football fans who don't want to hear about Pickett's hand size anymore. He gave his congratulations and pleaded with the NFL world to drop the discussion altogether:

“So congratulations to a very emotional Kenny Pickett. Can we get past the hands thing folks? It just I'm just over Kenny Pickett's hands..."

Whether or not Kenny Pickett will sink or swim in the NFL has little to do with his hands

The idea of small hands holding a quarterback back is legitimate in some ways. If you can't get a grip of a football, it's tough to throw a perfect spiral, let alone one that is meant to travel 50+ yards through the air.

That said, guys with small hands have achieved great things in the past, proving that it's far from the end-all, be-all to have the biggest mitts. When an athlete proves elite at the Power Five level, some slack is probably deserved to a degree. NFL footballs are bigger than those used in the NCAA, but not to the point where an elite NCAAF athlete all of a sudden can't get a grip on the seams anymore.

Michael Vick, an owner of supposedly small hands, still had a borderline Hall of Fame career. He downplayed the size of his hands, pointing out to GQ that it's the attitude of the ball carrier that means more:

“You got 280-pound guys swiping at the ball. They want that ball—they want you, but they really want that ball out your hand, because that’s money. That ball equates to money, whether you run it in the endzone, pick it off, or are picking up a fumble. So hands are important at the end of the day.”

If Pickett protects the ball and continues to flash the accuracy (67% completion rate his senior year) he showed scouts last season, this chatter will be looked back at and ridiculed, as many sports opinions often are.

He will join a Pittsburgh Steelers outfit looking to win a high power division in the AFC North. The Steelers are hoping to improve on their somewhat disappointing 9-7-1 season and 42-21 wildcard defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. Following the retirement of long-serving quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers need the rookie to hit the ground running.