Johnny Manziel has gone through the measurements at the NFL Combine and the one stat that will stand out to most is that he is not six-feet tall, coming a quarter of an inch short at 5-11 3/4.
However, there is a second measurement which many consider more important, hand size, and Manziel's hands are big. Here is his hand next to the hand of Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner who is 6-foot-4.
Scouts say it's key for shorter QBs to have big hands (Brees) Here's Manziel hand next to 6-4 DevinGardner's pic.twitter.com/6h7wDwDZ6l
- Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) September 18, 2013
Manziel's hands measured 9 7/8 inches at the combine and are actually bigger than the hands of the other top quarterbacks in the NFL Draft, Teddy Bridgewater (9 1/4 inches) of Louisville and Blake Bortles (9 3/8 inches) of Central Florida. Both of those quarterbacks are well over 6-feet tall (6-foot-2 and 6-foot-5, respectively).
In fact, Manziel's measurements are similar to Russell Wilson who has been successful in the NFL despite being undersized. Wilson measured 5-foot-11 at the combine, but his hands are 10 1/4 inches.
Hand size is a valued trait for NFL quarterbacks because passers with bigger hands can control the ball better, especially in bad weather.