Reports: Stanford QB K.J. Costello in transfer portal
The graduate transfer quarterback market reportedly includes one more player looking to change schools.
Per Al.com, Stanford QB K.J. Costello has put his name in the transfer portal. Costello would be a graduate transfer and eligible to play immediately if he decides to transfer.
Source: Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello has entered his name into the transfer portal.
Listed as a graduate transfer.
Was a second-team all-conference selection last year.— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 19, 2019
Costello was Stanford’s undisputed starter to open the 2019 season. But his season went sideways from the start. He suffered a nasty concussion in Week 1 against Northwestern and missed Stanford’s game against USC in Week 2.
He returned on Sept. 14 against UCF and played the next week against Oregon before suffering a thumb injury that kept him out until October. He then played in just two more games the rest of the season and finished with 1,028 passing yards as Stanford went 4-8.
While he was sidelined, Costello was replaced by Davis Mills. A junior in 2019, Mills has another year of eligibility remaining. He was a five-star recruit and the top pro-style quarterback in the class of 2017 and arrived at Stanford a year after Costello.
When healthy, Costello has proven to be a very good quarterback. He was one of the best QBs in the Pac-12 in 2018 as he was 269-of-413 passing for 3,540 yards and threw 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Stanford was 9-4 a year ago and beat Pitt in the Sun Bowl.
Before his breakout 2018, Costello played in 11 games as a redshirt freshman in 2017 and threw for 1,573 yards and 14 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Costello was a 4-star recruit
A four-star recruit in the class of 2016, Costello was the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in his class behind Jacob Eason. He was also just ahead of Feleipe Franks, Austin Kendall and Dwayne Haskins.
Haskins, who is now in the NFL, is the only one of the five who may finish his college career without transferring. Eason transferred from Georgia to Washington, where he started in 2019. Kendall transferred from Oklahoma to West Virginia and opened the 2019 season as the Mountaineers’ starter.
And Franks could be transferring like Costello. Franks suffered a season-ending leg injury in September and announced at the conclusion of the regular season that he would either transfer to another school for his final year of eligibility or head to the NFL.
If Costello does transfer, he’d be appealing for a team looking to make a run at a big bowl game needing a starter for a season. With the NFL’s draft declaration deadline a month away, the graduate transfer QB market should start to take shape just after the CFP National Championship.
13 Stanford players in transfer portal
Costello is now reportedly the 13th Stanford player to put their name in the transfer portal since the season ended.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, the 12 other players exploring a transfer are QB Jack Richardson, WR Donald Stewart, TE Scooter Harrington, G Devery Hamilton, G Henry Hattis, G Dylan Powell, DT Michael Williams, DE Jovan Swann, DT Bo Peek, LB Anthony Trinh, CB Obi Eboh and K Collin Riccitelli.
The Cardinal endured an uncharacteristic 4-8 season and missed a bowl game for the first time since 2008.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports
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