2016 NFL Draft: 49ers Quarterback Big Board

Brandon Allen-Arkansas

College Statistics

Brandon Allen is in the same group as Vernon Adams as an undersized quarterback prospect that, fair or not, will be scrutinized by teams because of it.

Allen is only 6’1″ and, although he weighed in at 217 pounds, his hands are just 8 7/8″. The NFL threshold for a quarterback’s hands are nine inches. Allen’s size simply isn’t up to par with what the majority of NFL teams are looking for from a long-term starter at quarterback.

Teams don’t immediately throw a guy out because of his hand size but the ability to control and manipulate the ball in difficult weather becomes increasingly difficult with smaller hands. Have some quarterbacks succeeded despite not meeting these thresholds? Sure. But teams look for ways to differentiate players and hand size becomes one way to do so.

Although Allen doesn’t meet the preferred size, his strengths match wonderfully with what Chip Kelly will ask his offense to do. Bleacher Report’s Lead NFL Draft Analyst Matt Miller recently released his NFL 400 series, beginning with the quarterbacks. The report on Allen will certainly impress the 49ers’ front office:

"Allen doesn’t mess around in the pocket. He has a clean, quick setup and fires the ball with a tight delivery. From the second he takes the snap, no movement is wasted. On the accuracy chart, Allen does well on intermediate passes and was able to show nice timing when throwing to lead receivers into space. He had some attempts miss their intended targets, but more often than not, they were still catchable."

Shortly after releasing his quarterback rankings, Miller followed up on Allen with an interesting video spot on the Bleacher Report NFL twitter feed.

Allen is generating some good buzz at a crucial time in the weeks before the 2016 NFL Draft. If the 49ers are content to wait on selecting a quarterback, their Big Board may direct them to Brandon Allen in the third or fourth round.

Next: Poor Decision-Maker