He came up short.
Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia — who was listed at 6-feet tall and 207 pounds on the Commodores’ website for the 2025 season — was measured at 5-9 ⅞ inches and 198 pounds while at Senior Bowl practices on Monday.
Saturday’s Senior Bowl game will showcase the top senior prospects for NFL scouts and coaches as a precursor to the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine, which runs Feb. 26-March 1 in Indianapolis.
“My size has been doubted my whole life,” Pavia told reporters Monday. “I feel like the only thing the NFL cares about is can you win, and I view myself as a winner.”
The Heisman Trophy runner-up made up for any height discrepancies this season, his sixth college campaign.
He led Vanderbilt to a 10-3 record in 2025, passing for 3,539 yards and 29 touchdowns and rushing for 862 yards with 10 more touchdowns.
Pavia made waves online when he appeared significantly shorter than his fellow Heisman finalists, running back Jeremiyah Love, who also is listed at 6-foot on Notre Dame’s website, and quarterback Julian Sayin, who is 6-foot-1, according to Ohio State’s website, at the trophy ceremony in December.
Pavia finished second in Heisman voting behind Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who became the first Hoosier to win the award and was listed at 6-foot-5.
Time will tell whether Pavia’s height will impact his draft stock.
Pavia’s post-Heisman loss outburst might’ve been a turn-off for NFL teams.
After the ceremony, Pavia reshared an Instagram Story of himself and his offensive line captioned, “F-ALL THE VOTERS, BUT…..FAMILY FOR LIFE.”
He also reposted comments from Skip Bayless, who tweeted that Pavia deserved the Heisman “for his performance on the field, even if his swagger and edge rubbed some voters and viewers the wrong way.”
Pavia was also seen at a club later that night with a nearby sign that read: “F–k Indiana.”
He later apologized on social media, writing, “I didn’t handle those emotions well at all and did not represent myself the way I wanted to.”
Pavia, who turns 24 on Feb. 16, transferred to Vanderbilt before the 2024 season after two seasons at New Mexico State University.
He spent two seasons at New Mexico Military Institute (2020-21).
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
