Cleveland Browns: Should Jared Goff’s hands be an issue?

Jared Goff’s hands may be smaller than ideal for an NFL quarterback. Should that scare off the Cleveland Browns?

The Cleveland Browns now have an official number to look at as they take an analytical approach to finally ending their 23-year search for a franchise quarterback.

Nine.

That’s the size of Cal quarterback Jared Goff’s hands, which were measured on Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine. By comparison, North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, considered the co-leader with Goff to be the first quarterback selected in the 2016 NFL Draft, checked in with 10-inch hands. Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch (10.25 inches) and Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott (10.875) were at the other end of the spectrum.

Most NFL teams reportedly like their quarterbacks to have larger hands – especially if they happen to play in a city that is prone to cold weather – with nine inches being the breaking point. In the AFC North, both Baltimore’s Joe Flacco (9.625) and Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton (9.5) exceed the 9-inch threshold. (The hand size of Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger was not revealed at the 2004 combine, according to NFL.com.)

“I don’t think it will be a problem for Jared, but it’s something you look at.” – Sashi Brown on Jared Goff’s hands

Since 2008, there have been 21 quarterbacks drafted in the first round and only one – Ryan Tannehill of the Miami Dolphins – has hands as small as Goff’s. In addition, Derek Carr’s and Colin Kaepernick’s hands both measured at 9.125 inches. Of course, all three of those quarterbacks play their home games in warmer climates than Cleveland.

So does that mean the Browns have crossed off Goff’s name on their draft board?

“It matters because we play in a division where all of a sudden there’s rain, there’s snow and it’s different,” head coach Hue Jackson said on Wednesday. “I think guys that have big hands can grip the ball better in those environmental situations and so we’ll look for a guy that fits what we’re looking for in a quarterback and is hand size important? Yes it is. ”

San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly is also an advocate of quarterbacks with big hands.

“Huge. You better have big hands,” Kelly said on Thursday. “Russell Wilson is 5-10 1/2 but he’s got 10 ¼ hands. You better have a big paw to manipulate the football.”

But it is what Kelly said next that is just as interesting.

“They’re measureables. They’re guidelines,” he said. “They’re not like, ‘He has 9-inch hands. He’s out.’ ”

There it is – while hand size is something to consider when evaluating a quarterback, it should not be the only thing that teams look at, which is a point that executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown made on Thursday.

More from Dawg Pound Daily

• How the Browns could maximize Nick Chubb in 2023
• Can Deshaun Watson get to Patrick Mahomes level for Cleveland Browns?
• 3 Cleveland Browns who should see an expanded role in 2023 and 1 who should not
• Is Marcus Davenport on the Browns radar in 2023?
• 5 Free agents from Super Bowl LVII Cleveland Browns should target

“I don’t think it will be a problem for Jared, but it’s something you look at,” Brown said.

For his part, Goff took the news of his “small hands” in stride.

“I’ve been told I have pretty big hands my whole life,” Goff said on Thursday. “I heard I have small hands yesterday, apparently. Naw, I’ve never had a problem with that or expect it to be a problem at all.”

It’s possible that hand size was an issue for Goff early on as two of his worst games came in poor weather as a freshman. Some critics have also pointed out that he fumbled 23 times in 37 games at Cal, but as Goff pointed out, only four of those came this past season. And by comparison, Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota fumbled 27 times in 41 games at Oregon and there was no problem when the Titans selected him at No. 2 in the 2015 NFL Draft.

So rather than saying that Goff is automatically off the board because of his hands, it seems more likely that if the Browns like Goff and another quarterback equally, then hand size could be utilized as a potential tie breaker.