Diego Pavia is hoping to reach the highest level of professional football in 2026, but will his height hold him back?
The Vanderbilt quarterback shined for the Commodores last season, leading the group to the first 10-win season in program history. Pavia dazzled on Saturdays in the fall and finished as the runner-up to Fernando Mendoza for the Heisman Trophy as Vanderbilt challenged for a spot in the 2025-26 College Football Playoff.
While the college star proved capable of measuring up against the competition, NFL teams will likely care more about the number that the measuring tape reveals at the scouting combine.
Vanderbilt officially listed the quarterback at 6-0, but measurements at the Senior Bowl came away with Pavia standing at about 5-9 7/8 inches. That measurement would make Pavia the shortest among current NFL starting quarterbacks, but not in NFL history.
For Pavia, passing the height test might be one of the bigger hurdles he faces in the pre-draft process. Here’s a look at the measurements for Pavia at the NFL combine, as well as his NFL draft projection.
This section has been updated.
Pavia is listed at six feet tall on Vanderbilt’s official roster page for their quarterback.
The 24-year-old quarterback got an official measurement at the NFL combine on Feb. 28, where he measured in at 5-foot-10.
This section has been updated.
The 5-foot-10 mark Pavia hit ties the shortest height for an NFL quarterback to play in a game since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
Here are all of the shortest quarterbacks in the history of the league, in ascending order:
Pavia was the shortest quarterback to measure in at the 2026 NFL combine as the only signal-caller shorter than six feet tall.
Here’s a look at every quarterback’s combine measurements at this year’s showcase, listed by height in ascending order:
Pavia is ranked as the ninth-best quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft class, according to USA TODAY Sports’ Ayrton Ostly.
The former Vanderbilt star will undoubtedly be a popular name throughout draft week, especially after entering the Heisman Trophy race in 2025, finishing as the runner-up. It came on the heels of a breakout season that saw him complete 70.6% of passes, totaling 29 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. He also wasn’t shy on the ground, tacking on 862 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.
Pavia earned plenty of praise for his ability to make plays off-schedule, producing highlight reel moments. However, questions remain about his size and whether he has enough athleticism to make up for it.
There is no denying his competitive spirit, moxie and what he did to help turn the Commodores into a winning program, but it remains to be seen how those skills would translate against better competition at the NFL level.
