Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters just addressed the media in Indianapolis at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine. Here are five takeaways from his press conference.
Arm length is in the eye of the beholder.
It’s combine week, which means that scouts, media members and analysts are going to get intimately familiar with measurables like hand size and arm length. The latter is going to be of particular importance for some of the pass rushers in this year’s class, and there are several who will likely be below the NFL average.
Peters admitted that it’s ideal to have a pass rusher with long arms, but the answer can be a bit more nuanced than that.
“Every time you measure someone’s arm, it could be 31, 32, 33, just depending on who measures it,” Peters said. “You get a pretty good idea of how long their arms are with that, but [it’s] really how well they play with whatever arm length they have.”
Although Peters didn’t mention any names, most people’s minds will go to Miami’s Rueben Bain, who has been criticized for having a shorter arm length compared to some of the other top tier pass rushers. That might be true, but Bain also recorded 9.5 sacks to go with 54 tackles and generated 67 pressures. His arm length also hasn’t stopped draft experts from mocking him to go in the top half of the first round.
As Peters said, while it’s great to have length, it’s also about how players use it.
“Some guys have shorter arms that play with great length and extension all the time,” Peters said. “Some guys have really long arms that don’t use that.”