To quote Luke...

…"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

By Plan Man on 01.04.19 3:30pm

I know.

This is one kid who was a literal gam changer. However, having said that, I think Shaw actually does worse with returning stars. I think he becomes too focused on trying to leverage them and he neglects other players.

By Blackjoy on 01.04.19 4:52pm

Honestly, the man's (Iceman David's) recruiting machine...

…fires on all eight. JJ is a three-star. Let that sink in. When called, who of the current crop will step up? WTF knows?

Seriously, before that last-second haul-in from Ryan (the Albatross) Burns, in Westwood, in 2016, what did we know about the savior of 2018? Nada. Zilch. Zip. Bok.

Keep the faith, says I…

By Plan Man on 01.04.19 5:09pm

One neat thing about college...

…is that there are always new players coming up.

By Blackjoy on 01.05.19 8:58pm

Good for him!

I think he will make an excellent pro.

By Brendan Ross on 01.04.19 4:00pm

I'm wishing him...

…the best of fortunes in the pros, but I just don’t know. Yes, boxing out corners on the fade looked effortless, but it was consistently against smaller competition and I’m not so sure that trademark will translate to Sundays. He’ll be facing a whole different level of talent. Honestly, he’s not a burner, nor the tightest route runner, and, though sizable and physical enough in P12 play to erase those deficiencies, I think they may haunt him in the NFL without serious work and focus.

Reading the buzz, it intimates a pick a little further down the chain, and I kinda wonder if another season might not be beneficial. I don’t see the coming year quite as darkly as some others seem to…

By Plan Man on 01.06.19 2:40pm

All considered the best NFL prospect we had in years

Right from his TD winning grab against UCLA after thrown into the fire, to the final bowl game, was consistent bonafide nfl prospect as we have ever had. He made jump ball fade offense look remarkably more efficient than it should be in real life. Wish him the best in the pros, should help our wr pipeline for the future.

By layman on 01.05.19 12:21am

The right decision for JJ

JAW$ had the announcers talking about his strong hands so much that it was starting to get weird. Every time I think of him as a 3-star recruit my mind is blown. So great to see a wide receiver of this caliber come off the Farm and into the NFL, and when you look on to the next guys there is a lot to be excited about. Michael Wilson with the final non-victory formation play in the Sun Bowl when he fought for that first down, as a true freshman, for one.

By NowBoy on 01.05.19 7:56am

This team is going to look VERY different next year

But congratulations to JJAW. Here’s to making it big!

By g8tgod on 01.05.19 12:44pm

Here's hoping someone else steps up in the red zone.

By far the most exciting plays this year and last were when Stanford would throw the lob to JJ in the end zone. Everybody, and I mean everybody in the stadium, knew it was coming at some point. It made football really fun to watch. We’ll miss that. Now if he can just get drafted by some team with a QB who can and will throw it. And also hoping that he can teach some of the many Stanford receivers who are returning how to do what he does so well,

By SU74 on 01.05.19 10:06pm

NFL corners are taller...

…so I’m not sure that play will work in the pros.

By brandtjl1 on 01.06.19 7:40am

Jon Wilner thinks kj could be a second third round pick

Wow. If that’s the case then kj better go now..

No word either way on whether Stanford quarterback KJ Costello will enter the draft or return for 2019.

That’s right: KJ Costello.

As a third-year sophomore, he’s eligible. He has the size for it. And the arm for it. And he just might have the motivation for it.

Justin Herbert’s return makes a weak 2019 QB draft class that much weaker, but it also makes the 2020 class that much stronger.

What’s more, Costello might scan Stanford’s ’19 depth chart and see an iffy offensive line, no Bryce Love, no Arcega-Whiteside, no Smith, no Trenton Irwin … and decide he doesn’t have enough surrounding talent to markedly improve his draft position.

We’re not expecting him to leave school, but we wouldn’t be surprised.

Given the need for quarterbacks and the weak class, it wouldn’t take much from Costello in pre-draft workouts to push his stock into the second or third round.

And if he does depart, Stanford could finish closer to the bottom of the North than the top.

By stanford6thman on 01.06.19 8:03am

Will be interesting to see

I think he probably stays, but I wouldn’t blame him if he does not stay — the team he would be returning to next year is not particularly strong. Of course, without him as well Stanford would get clobbered next year, probably a losing season for the first time since the mid-2000s, and back to starting from scratch again.

By Brendan Ross on 01.06.19 8:32am

Health of his supportive cast is the key

Sure he doesn’t have the safety blanket of a JJ but hogan had half that talent at wide out to succeed. I believe that the offense if it can stay healthy has some nice pieces to build upon.

The line will suit up 2 5* lineman on the left side, 2 4* upsides on the right and a returning center. They pass blocked pretty well this year and if the run blocking is even average then that will take so much pressure off Costello.

The receiving corps are no slouch. We have another tall TE in Parkinson, explosive receivers in Michael Wilson and Osiris st brown, not to mention the addition of Elijah Higgins who is considered a JJ clone.

On the RB replacement, I will go out of the box and nominate Conor wedington as our starter. He has the open field vision and receiving talent that reminds me of mccaffrey. If he develops behind that OL in the off-season he could bring back that efficiency of the hogan 2015 offense.

So it’s not all gloom on offense atleast from a talent standpoint. How Shaw and his offensive staff develop them in the off-season is another question only KJ can answer within the program.

By layman on 01.06.19 10:00am

would be a shame if KJ left...

but at the same, it would be fun to see how Davis Mills does, assuming his injury is healed. He was ranked so highly out of high school with an almost unheard of .9918 rating. perhaps he would be better than KJ?

By brandtjl1 on 01.06.19 8:19am

Stanford Has Two Highly Ranked QBs Ready, With Another One On Mission

Unfortunately, David Shaw and his QB coach have proven to be very bad at choosing the right new QB and getting early production out of them as the team transitions from a former starter who has moved on.

We are not talking true freshmen, but guys who have been around the program for a while and should be reasonably prepared to step in and perform. I get the playbook thing (I guess), but many many other schools are starting true freshman and having success – recognizing that there will be some bumps in the road.

While I do not think Costello is "NFL ready" at this point, I am not sure that playing next year at Stanford is going to best showcase his talents – and risks injury. Even with Costello, I think we will have a hard time getting past six wins and could find ourselves in many games down early and forced to throw to catch up – with Costello facing an all out pass rush with less weapons available to him. Health-wise and statistically, that is not a good place for Costello to be.

The 2019 QB class is weak. Beyond the first 2 or 3 players, it is hard to make a case that Costello is demonstrably worse than the rest of the field and, like all Stanford QBs, he has been developed in a pro-style offense mitigating transition issues.

This will be a tough decision for KJ, but he knows best what he is working with at Stanford next year. Without KJ, I shudder to think how many wins we get next year…………..and probably open up 0 – 4.

By hoyaparanoia on 01.06.19 9:30am

QB Development May Also Be Better Available At The Next Level

Honestly, I cannot imagine a scenario where KJ ever gets drafted above the second or third round unless he is surrounded with the type of talent of the great Stanford teams of a few years ago. Arguably, he had the best receiving corps in Stanford’s history this past season – though the offensive line made it hard for him to fully capitalize on it.

Kevin Hogan, while a journeyman at best, commented once that just being on an NFL team and getting the QB training he needed made him a much improved QB over his days at Stanford. Costello is not going to learn anything next year at Stanford and, if he is at best a 2 – 3 round guy with upside, why not go get some development elsewhere?

By hoyaparanoia on 01.06.19 9:39am

I’m surprised Hogan would disparage Stanford qb development like that

But what he said is obvious. It took Shaw how many tries to even get hogan on the field, and then hogan experienced that second season slump when other qbs in other programs usually progress. Stanford qbs do get better training elsewhere. Second third round pick is a no brainer for kj.

By stanford6thman on 01.06.19 10:07pm

To Be Clear..

Hogan’s comments were about how much further he had developed as a QB after benefiting from his participation in an NFL training camp and working with the coaches available to him. He did not and would not disparage Stanford……………..but for a four year starter at Stanford, the comments implicitly reflect that there was some development "left on the table" on the Farm.

By hoyaparanoia on 01.07.19 9:13am

If that's what he meant, which I doubt, then he's got a lack of perspective.

the comments implicitly reflect that there was some development "left on the table" on the Farm.

I seriously doubt he was intimating that he was underdeveloped. And even if he was, that is going to be true for every college QB who goes to the pros. I’m sure Luck would say he learned all kinds of stuff his first year in the NFL. So would Jared Goff, Phillips Rivers, Tom Brady, and every other mediocre to great QB, regardless of how many years he started. In college, the players are limited to 20 hours of supervised football coaching a week. In the NFL, a QB who is on a team that wants him, can get 24/7 instruction. It’s an order of magnitude more instruction and assistance in the NFL.

Shaw doesn’t have any issue developing QBs any more than any other college program. The #1 and #2 college football teams both have changed QB’s mid-season. Alabama did it in the title game last year, replacing QB who had also replaced a QB during the season. Clemson did it this year, with a kid who hadn’t even lost a game. Look at UW. The once celebrated Jake Browning has gone downhill since his sophomore year. His senior year was his worst.

So please, lay off the "Shaw can’t develop qb’s" nonsense, because it’s exactly that in the landscape of college football.

By Blackjoy on 01.07.19 12:29pm

Davis mills suffered another serious leg injury in his only appearance this season

It was bad enough at the time that Shaw had to suddenly offer Ryan Hilinski very very late in the recruiting cycle after he had already committed to South Carolina. Hilinski obviously wasn’t swayed even though Stanford was his dream school.

And now the word is mills injury turns out wasn’t so bad. Who knows what’s going on, but I wouldn’t pin too much hope or pressure on mills. Probably still working to get his legs back to full strength next season even if he’s on the field, similar to what we saw with holder this year. He clearly wasn’t the dominant cb of years past.

By stanford6thman on 01.06.19 10:33pm

For those of you wanting wholesale changes to Shaw ball

Or at least changes to the oc and o line coaches should hope kj leaves this year. A five win season and no bowl game are our only chance to see some meaningful changes in coaching staff and philosophy.

By stanford6thman on 01.06.19 10:09pm

I find it hypocritical that players are expected to compete week in week out

For playing time, for starter status, etc. but our assistant coaches are not held accountable to the same standard. they get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars and get to stick around even after an entire horrendous season. I say their compensation and job security should be performance based. Ie an o line performance like this year really should net carberry a very low compensation and a clear deadline to improve or else next season. That’s the only way to be fair to the offensive line student athletes who work their butts off in class and on the field and the weight room. They deserve better coaching than what they got this year

By stanford6thman on 01.06.19 10:39pm

This kliff kingsbury saga is quite entertaining

It seems the dysfunction at usc offense should last another year. Such a slap in the face for usc’s new oc to want out after a month.

By stanford6thman on 01.07.19 4:57pm

Dreaming of Offensive Innovation

Watching the Alabama-Clemson game and the innovated offenses, I can only hope that Stanford could get an offensive coordinator that could infuse some of that Championship caliber offense into the system.

By farmboy2 on 01.07.19 7:15pm