Diego Pavia’s Senior Bowl measurements raise eyebrows as quarterback aims to rebuild NFL Draft stock

Diego Pavia’s height has officially been confirmed.

The Vanderbilt quarterback’s measurements were taken ahead of the Senior Bowl on January 31 in Mobile, Alabama.

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The 23-year-old came in at 5-foot-9, 198 lbs, which is well below the measurements provided by the Commodores.

On their official website, they have Pavia listed at 6-foot and 207 lbs, which has sent social media into a frenzy as many argue about how there was such a disparity between the measurements.

“I thought they were better at math at Vanderbilt than they really are,” one fan posted to X (formerly Twitter).

“If you watch Diego Pavia and thought he was anything taller than 5 foot nine you need to get your eyes checked,” a second commented.

“Men are always lying about their measurements,” a third fan joked.

“And he thinks he’s going in the first round. The guy he was throwing shade at after he won the Heisman is going 1st pick. He’ll be lucky to be drafted in the 4th round lol,” another argued.

Fans were quick to argue that Pavia was shorter than listed back when images from the Heisman Trophy ceremony were released.

One of four finalists for the coveted college football award, Pavia was stood alongside Jeremiyah Love, Julian Sayin and winner Fernando Mendoza, with them all touching the award.

The issue laid in the fact that Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Sayin was also listed at 6-foot, who was quite clearly a few inches taller than him.

Pavia was instrumental in Vanderbilt’s historic season in which they recorded the most wins in school history (10-3), completing 70.6 percent of his passes for 29 touchdowns to just eight interceptions.

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After an impressive season, Pavia declared for the NFL draft, but making the jump to the pros is difficult, especially for shorter quarterbacks whose stature is under 6-foot.

In the 2025 NFL season, there were only four quarterbacks who were under 6-foot: Kyler Murray(5’9″), Bryce Young (5’10”), Russell Wilson (5’11”) and Dillon Gabriel (5’11”), who had a combined win record of 11-19.

The reason why shorter quarterbacks struggle is because they have to be able to see over their big offensive linemen and the opposing defensive line, who can often be 6-foot-5 or taller.

Batting passes down is also far easier the shorter the signal caller is.

With that in mind ahead of the 2026 NFL draft, ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper has Pavia ranked as the seventh-best quarterback in the class, with Mendoza

Although not yet projected to be a first-round pick, with top-10 prospect Dante Moore returning to Oregon, Pavia could yet move up in the quarterback rankings.

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But Pavia needs to be careful not to put himself in a position to suffer the same fate as that of Shedeur Sanders, who fell to the fifth-round after teams passed on him based on his attitude in interviews.

After losing the Heisman to Mendoza, Pavia was seen in a video on social media partying in front of a board that read ‘F*** Indiana,’ which ruffled some feathers to say the least

College GameDay host Rece Davis was so disgusted that he admitted that he regretted voting for Pavia to win the Heisman.

After losing the Heisman to Mendoza, Pavia was seen in a video on social media partying in front of a board that read ‘F*** Indiana,’ which ruffled some feathers to say the least.

On draft night, though, anything can happen.

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