When Mississippi State named Mike Leach head coach, Hail State fans suddenly had real optimism after ending 2019 with a thud in the Music City Bowl. Now with the Pirate landing in Starkville and bringing his exciting brand of football to the SEC, the biggest question for Mississippi State centers on the quarterback pulling the trigger in Leach’s offense.

Garrett Shrader has shown enough promise during his young career to give hope to Bulldogs fans, but it’s fair to question whether he can thrive in an offensive system that relies so heavily on an accurate quarterback. Taking that into consideration, it was no surprise to see Leach explore the graduate transfer market for a quarterback to compete with Shrader and eventually land Stanford transfer quarterback, K.J. Costello.

Following Costello’s decision to play for Leach next season at Mississippi State, I’ve watched every snap of his Stanford career that I could find to better understand the quarterback the Bulldogs are getting. After reviewing more than 20 games, it’s my opinion that Mississippi State landed a quarterback with better arm talent than any Bulldogs signal-caller since Dak Prescott.

You don’t have to take my word for it. ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit praised Costello after watching him lead Stanford to a 38-20 win over No. 10 Notre Dame during his freshman season in 2017. Costello completed 14-of-22 passes for 176 yards and 4 touchdowns.

“I think this kid is a future superstar. I’m really impressed with him,” Herbstreit said during the broadcast of the 2018 Stanford-Oregon game. “We had him late last year at home against Notre Dame, I think he gave us a glimpse of what he can be.”

One thing to note about Costello’s time at Stanford: While he was highly productive most of the time, Bryce Love was the focal point of the offense during Costello’s 2 best seasons. That’s not to say Costello can’t carry an offense, but he was not the driving force of the Stanford offense — partially due to Cardinal’s style and partially due to Love’s ability.

Costello still has something to prove in 2020, but he won’t have to do it single-handedly at Mississippi State with Kylin Hill returning for another season in Starkville.

After studying his career at Stanford, here are the strengths of Costello’s game.

Arm strength

He flashed arm strength on this pass against TCU in the 2017 Alamo Bowl. It’s not a Hail Mary, but throwing from the right hash mark to the left side of the back of the end zone isn’t easy, especially with tight coverage on the receiver.

Here’s a similar throw, roughly 40 yards downfield from the left hash mark to the right side of the field against Notre Dame.

This touchdown pass against Washington is the type of throw NFL quarterbacks have to make in the red zone. There are a handful of defenders in the area, but the perfect throw could not be defended.

Downfield throwing ability

Against USC in the 2017 Pac-12 Championship Game, Stanford was down late and needed to make some explosive plays in the passing game to get back in the game. The comeback fell short, but Costello led Stanford within striking distance thanks to some impressive throws downfield against a defense that knew Stanford had to throw.

Here’s another example of a throw Costello consistently showed he has the ability to make, completing passes against tight coverage he will see next season in the SEC.

Next is a play that will make Leach smile. His offense runs go routes more than just about anybody. If Costello delivers the ball to Mississippi State’s receivers consistently like this next season, he might throw for 50 touchdowns.

Doesn’t need a clean pocket to complete passes

This is an underrated trait but one that will determine whether Costello succeeds next season for Mississippi State.

Some of the offensive linemen will be in their third offensive system and their third offensive line coach since arriving in Starkville. There will be times when the pocket won’t be clean, but that did not hinder Costello at Stanford.

Here’s a great example of Costello doing just that. This is my favorite play of his time there.

Here Costello keeps his eyes downfield despite nearly getting sacked by a Notre Dame defender and fires a great pass for a touchdown.

This completion against Utah is due to Costello’s arm strength. Keep an eye on his feet as he does not have the ability to step into his throw.

Has nice touch on passes near the goal line

Leach isn’t afraid to throw the ball near the goal line, but he can’t run those plays if he doesn’t have a quarterback capable of completing touch passes. Costello has shown the ability to do that with several touchdown passes in the red zone, putting the ball where only his receiver can catch it.

Here’s a display of some nice touch on a fade route in the red zone that produced a touchdown.

Costello read the man-to-man coverage by USC’s defense just before the snap and delivers a nice touch pass for a touchdown.

After throwing for 3,540 yards and 29 TDs, Costello had the option of turning pro early after his redshirt sophomore year at Stanford following the 2018 season, but he returned to improve his draft stock. It didn’t happen due to several factors. Costello suffered a few injuries, including a concussion in the 2019 opener against Northwestern and later suffered a thumb injury on his throwing hand. It didn’t help that Stanford suffered too much turnover at the skill positions to overcome.

Combine that with the offensive system not necessarily lending itself to showcasing a quarterback’s arm and Costello had little opportunity to make the jump to the NFL following his junior year at Stanford.

Mississippi State’s new quarterback has a lot to prove in 2020, but he’ll have every opportunity to do so if he can win the starting role in Leach’s offense.

The Bulldogs will throw it early and often and will do so against some of the most talented defenses in college football. The Leach-Costello union might very well prove to be the perfect match that could result in several single-season Mississippi State passing records getting shattered next fall. Prescott holds the 2 signature records: 3,793 yards and 29 TD passes.

This isn’t the path to the NFL Costello imagined a year ago, but it might prove to be the best route yet as the NFL has fully embraced the Air Raid college offense Leach made famous.