Is Mississippi State QB K.J. Costello a legitimate 2021 NFL Draft prospect?

Can K.J. Costello capitalize on his success and become a high-level 2021 NFL Draft prospect?

What an incredible debut for the Mike Leach offense in the SEC. In his first game as the head coach at Mississippi State, Leach led the Bulldogs into Death Valley and came away with an impressive 44-34 victory. His wide-open Air Raid attack was firing on all cylinders in this one, proven by the incredible performance by senior quarterback K.J. Costello.

Costello completed 36-of-60 passes on the afternoon for an SEC-record 623 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions. It was not a perfect game from Costello, but he slung the ball all over the yard to help Mississippi State take down the defending National Champions.

We all know that Leach’s quarterbacks put up gaudy numbers, but Costello tearing apart LSU like this is certainly of note. If he continues to dominate SEC competition like this, we will have to pay attention to Costello as a legitimate 2021 NFL Draft prospect.

This is Costello’s first year with Mississippi State, transferring to the school after spending three years as the starting quarterback at Stanford. He had a solid, yet unspectacular career at Stanford, highlighted by an All-Pac-12 second-team selection as a junior in 2018. Costello always showed a big arm and good decision-making ability, but his ceiling as a next-level prospect always appeared to be limited.

Costello lacks ideal mobility at the quarterback position, but he shows good pocket awareness and has enough elusiveness to escape pressure and keep a play alive. He is never going to be a big-time playmaker with his legs, but Costello is not a statue back there either.

He is a smart quarterback who has the arm to hit any throw on the football field. Costello is not the most consistently accurate quarterback but has shown the ability to make accurate throws at all three levels of the defense.

Barring injury, K.J. Costello is going to put up massive numbers in Leach’s offense this season and this will lead to a certain amount of 2021 NFL Draft hype. Does this mean that he will be a first-round pick next April? I highly doubt it, but we have seen Air Raid quarterbacks have a lot of NFL success in recent years. Costello should be looked at as a high-upside 2021 NFL Draft prospect who could be the best quarterback option for teams on Day 2.