The last time we experienced a live NFL game it was billed as the first Super Bowl between head coaches who were brothers.
But it was also the biggest quarterback matchup in Super Bowl history. No, it was not a 1984 Dan Marino vs. Joe Montana type of big, but Joe Flacco and Colin Kaepernick were literally the biggest quarterbacks to ever compete on the big stage.
Flacco is 6’6” and Kaepernick is 6’5”, making them the first pair of quarterbacks at least 77 inches tall to meet in a Super Bowl. Flacco is the tallest quarterback to both start and win a Super Bowl.
With the 2013 draft around the corner, does this mean teams will only want to target the big signal callers?
Not exactly, but this questionable class is not welcoming any of the little guys anyway. Ryan Nassib and Tyler Wilson are 6’2”, Geno Smith and Matt Barkley are 6’3”, EJ Manuel is 6’5”, Tyler Bray is 6’6” and Mike Glennon is 6’7”.
There is no Russell Wilson to be found at the top of this draft, but it’s not like Wilson went at the top of last year’s draft either.
He was too short, which is about the laziest analysis you can give a player. But teams still apparently abide by it.
Not a single quarterback under 6’0” has been drafted in the first two rounds since the 5’10” Ted Marchibroda went No. 5 overall to Pittsburgh in 1953.
That was 60 years ago. That was back when the Steelers didn’t know what the hell they were doing in this league.
A quarterback can improve his accuracy and arm strength. He can increase his intellectual grasp of the game through study of film and his playbook. He can always become a better leader and field general.
But at this stage of life, a quarterback cannot improve his height. He’s stuck with that number.
Other physical attributes like his speed and arm strength will decrease over time, but he’s not getting any taller. Even Brett Favre left the game the same height he was when he entered it (unless you think his head got too big at the end).
Let’s look at how quarterback height has evolved and if bigger really is better.
Quarterback Stats vs. Height
We looked at the 214 quarterbacks with at least 1,000 career pass attempts in the regular season. Data on their height is available at Pro-Football-Reference. Stats are for only the regular season and are updated through the 2012 season. Obviously these numbers will continue to change with roughly 35 of these players set to be active in 2013...
