KJ Costello NFL Draft Prospect Report

QB, Stanford/Mississippi State

Update: KJ Costello signed by Chargers. KJ Costello went undrafted, but has been invited to the Los Angeles Chargers camp.

Want a late round or even undrafted quarterback not named Tyree Jackson to fall in love with? Let me introduce you to KJ Costello from Stanford/Mississippi State. He’s a 6’5” 225 lbs. quarterback, prototypical NFL QB size. He’s got a strong arm and a 63 percent completion rate over his career. If you want to see Costello’s potential check him out against LSU. He threw for 623 yards and 5 TDs and lead Mississippi State to the massive upset win. So why is he a late 3rd day/undrafted prospect? Well, things fell apart for him this past year after that game. He was working in a new offense with a new team, but he was eventually benched. Costello made some bad decisions this year, but there’s potential there.

Accuracy

His worst completion percentage was his freshman year when he was just below 60 percent. Costello is accurate, he just throws it up and relies on his arm strength too much. His interception numbers are a little inflated as well as he played behind a bad offensive line and had some balls bounce off the hands of his receivers into the hands of the defense. Costello also played in both the shotgun and under center, so he’s got plenty of experience in a pro style offense. Get this kid in the film room, coach him up, work on his mechanics, and you might find a real gem here. He needs a lot of polish, but we’re talking about a 6th or 7th rounder, or more likely an undrafted free agent. Draft him late and develop him, you never know what he could turn into. -Jonah Anderson

Ken’s Thoughts

 

KJ Costello transferred to Mississippi State to operate in Mike Leach’s air raid system last season and honestly I think it hurt his draft status. I thought he looked better in his Stanford days. I know my counter part is a fan of Costello, but I’m not as high on him. There are some flashes, like the LSU blow out, but even in that game I see him miss some easy passes and make a few bad decisions. However, for every bad choice there is a wow moment that keeps scouts around.

Strengths

KJ has some solid arm strength and makes sharp throws outside the numbers. Now and then he whips a ball that I didn’t think he could put the zip on and it draws me back in a bit. He has prototypical size for the position, standing at 6-5 and 225 lbs. He doesn’t panic in the pocket and stands his ground while keeping his eyes down field and although he isn’t a scrambler that will win a game with his legs, he does extend some plays with his maneuverability. One other thing I like about Costello comes from his time at Stanford. That’s his experience in a pro style offense. I liked him more in Stanford’s offense than I did in the air raid.

Weaknesses

Unfortunately I see more on this side of the spectrum for Costello. His feet are too stagnant for me in the pocket. I see him stand flat footed more than I would like. It takes away some of the zip on his throws from time to time and if he could shuffle better he would have even more pocket maneuverability. I see him make some questionable decisions and ones that aren’t even pressure forced. I also see him miss the easy lay ups.

Against Arkansas, he misses his underneath receivers with no defenders near too many times for me. He also tends to check down a bit sooner than I would like when he still has solid protection. In that game, he should have had 4-5 INT’s in the first half if defenders could catch the ball. Games like that don’t help you much.

He was benched multiple times for Backup Will Rogers even before Costello was injured. That being said, I don’t like it when a college quarterback can’t even keep the starting job. Overall I do see some of the talent others talk about, but I couldn’t see myself using a pick on Costello. There are other players I’d prefer taking a chance on in this years draft some of which play the same position. The cons just outweigh the pros for me and I have him as an undrafted free agent. Maybe a team will pick him up and let him compete for a back up job, but if a team drafts him I’d dock their draft grade for it.

Projection

Late round pick, Undrafted Free Agent. With really good coaching anyone could learn to fix throwing mechanics etc.. My question is can they be taught to change their poor decision making? I see Costello as a career back up at best.