College football teams typically tack on an extra inch when measuring their athletes’ heights… or sometimes four.
Heading into the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, on Saturday (2:30 p.m. ET, NFL Network), Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia measured at 5-foot-9 7/8 inches, 198 pounds (via Ryan Roberts of A to Z Sports). During his senior season, the school listed him at 6-foot, 207 pounds.
Assume Pavia’s Senior Bowl measurements are accurate. Colleges often fudge players’ measurements to boost their NFL Draft stocks.
What are other examples of colleges lying about players’ measurements before the NFL Draft?
Colleges adding one or two inches is quite common. During the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Sports Illustrated found that 28 of 332 players were measured two inches shorter than their college measurements indicated. The majority were one inch shorter.