K.J. Costello, Mississippi State Football News: Draft Scout Player News

05/13/20 - QB K.J. Costello, rSr/2021, Mississippi State

In an offense predicated on the aerial attack, there's perhaps no position more crucial to Mike Leach's success at MSU than under center -- or, rather, in the shotgun. For Leach, his first few weeks in Starkville were busy devising a coaching staff while also scrounging the graduate transfer market for a potential quarterback to run the show this fall -- or whenever football does return. "It's a new resource nowadays," Leach said of the transfer portal at his introductory press conference Jan. 10. "It's both positive and negative, but it can be a resource. I don't think it can be ignored for any position. Football's a competitive sport, and you're always trying to upgrade. Of course, everybody, regardless of position, remembers somebody that played from whenever. But if you can upgrade, that's the point of a team game."

In response, the Bulldogs landed a commitment from Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello -- a two-time Pac-12 all-Academic honorable mention, a second team all-conference honoree in 2018 and a former Cardinal team captain. Costello is the most experienced option of the four scholarship quarterbacks MSU currently carries. In 28 career games at Stanford, he completed 495 of 791 passes for 6,151 yards and 49 touchdowns to just 18 interceptions. His best year in a Cardinal uniform came as a sophomore, throwing for 3,540 yards and 29 touchdowns while guiding his team to a 9-4 record. "He's one of those take-charge guys -- very dedicated, competitive," former Santa Margarita High School head coach Rick Curtis said of his one-time signal-caller. "One of the great things about him is he really could rally his teammates around him. He liked that role, and they kind of gravitated toward him." While Costello has yet to arrive on campus, there shouldn't be much competition from those already enrolled at MSU for the starting job. - The Dispatch

rSr/2021