It's not officially draft season in the NFL until a quarterback gets grilled for having small hands at the NFL combine, which means draft season can officially start, because Joe Burrow went through the ringer on Monday after his "tiny" hands measured at just 9 inches. 

They were so small, we might have to start calling him "Baby Hands Burrow."

When it comes to events at the combine, the hand measurement has almost become as big as the 40-yard dash. Every year, quarterbacks get their hands measured, and every year, someone gets ripped for having small hands. Most scouts are looking for quarterbacks with big hands, because they think that will cut down on fumbles and also because the NFL uses a slightly larger ball than teams do in college.  

Burrow, who's widely expected to be selected by the Bengals with the first overall pick, definitely didn't wow anyone with his hand size. At 9 inches, he's tied with Jared Goff for the smallest hands of any potential No. 1 overall pick since 2003. 

After word leaked out of Burrow's hand measurements, the quarterback decided to make a joke about it on Twitter. 

At least, I think that's a joke, or it could be his way of saying he would rather retire than play for the Bengals. Just kidding, it's definitely not that second thing, and we know that because Burrow clarified his feelings about Cincinnati on Tuesday by saying that he would gladly play for the Bengals if they select him. 

As for Burrow's tiny hands, although quarterbacks with smaller hands haven't had a lot of success in the NFL over the years, 2019 just happened to be a banner season for them. Of the four quarterbacks who made it to the championship round, three of them (Patrick Mahomes, Jimmy Garoppolo and Ryan Tannehill) had hands that measured at 9.25 inches or smaller at the combine. 

Speaking of Mahomes, after seeing Burrow get roasted for his tiny hands, the Chiefs quarterback decided to offer some encouragement. 

Although we can all argue about how much hand size matters, Burrow is at the size where quarterbacks have had trouble succeeding. According to ESPN.com, over the past decade, only two quarterbacks have measured at 9 inches and had any success: Jared Goff and Tannehill. Of course, there have also been plenty of quarterbacks with huge hands who didn't pan out like Ryan Mallett (10.75 inches), Paxton Lynch (10.375 inches) and Cody Kessler (10.25 inches).

The good news for the Bengals (or whomever ends up drafting Burrow) is that hand size didn't really seem to slow Burrow down during his final season at LSU when he set won the national title while also setting multiple FBS passing records.