Former Mississippi State quarterback KJ Costello was one of the most talked-about passers in the SEC heading into the season — even more so after he broke the single-game conference passing record with 623 passing yards against LSU the first game of the season.
But the upward momentum was essentially halted there, as the team struggled through the remainder of a season they finished at 3-7 overall.
Costello missed a total of four weeks during the season due to a concussion and COVID-19 exposure and was replaced by true freshman Will Rogers.
In cases like these, it’s almost commonplace to point blame at the quarterback, but there were several things outside of Costello that factored in.
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Mississippi State didn’t have a complete offseason to transition from an offense based on a running quarterback to one focused on the passing attack, on top of being one of the youngest teams in the conference.
Costello recently took part in pro days at Mississippi State and San Jose State, recording impressive showings at both.
It’s hard to find many flaws in this — Costello is solid on the deep ball, has a nice release, the footwork is good and he throws accurately and with anticipation.
Speaking of pro days, KJ Costello had good showings at Mississippi State and San Jose State: pic.twitter.com/zCkWsIfR2a
— Crissy Froyd (@crissy_froyd) March 30, 2021
It will be interesting to see where Costello — who has drawn interest from multiple NFL teams — lands when the draft begins on April 29.
He finishes out a four-year career between Stanford and Mississippi State with a completion percentage of 62.9%, 7,434 passing yards, 55 touchdowns and 29 interceptions.
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