Seems like it was forever ago when Stanford landed a blue chip quarterback recruit from Texas named Andrew Luck and he went on to become the face of the program and get drafted first overall in the NFL Draft.
Today Stanford landed another top high school quarterback recruit, but this time they landed one in their own backyard in California. K.J Costello is considered to be one of the best pocket quarterbacks in the country and he ended his recruitment by picking Stanford over USC and Michigan.
The quarterback dominoes in the 2016 class continued to fall Thursday, as No. 4 pocket passer K.J. Costello announced his commitment to Stanford.
Costello, the nation’s No. 40 overall prospect, had narrowed his choices to Michigan, Stanford and USC in recent weeks, and had been close to making a commitment since the beginning of the month, finally feeling comfortable enough with his final choice to do it Thursday.
This is a significant recruiting win for Stanford, as the Cardinal elected not to take a scholarship quarterback in the 2015 class after missing on top targets Ricky Town and Brandon Wimbush. In the 2016 class, the Cardinal focused all their attention at the position on Costello and did not make an offer to any other signal-caller.
Costello broke onto the scene as a sophomore, throwing for 1,478 yards and 13 touchdowns for Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Coto de Caza, California. His first offer came the following April as Florida State came calling. Costello then raised his game as a junior, passing for 3,123 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Cardinal coaches also earn some recruiting bragging rights with the commitment, as Costello’s mother attended USC and the 6-foot-4, 216-pound quarterback has said he grew up very familiar with the Trojans’ program. Stanford also beat out Michigan, where coach Jim Harbaugh undoubtedly used his success with the Cardinal as a recruiting pitch for the Wolverines.
There is no telling if Costello will be as good as Luck on the collegiate level, but he is a very impressive quarterback prospect and landing him is huge for David Shaw and Stanford going forward.
Top quarterback prospects tend to be huge selling points for coaching staffs when it comes to assembling recruiting classes, only time will tell if Stanford can build around Costello.