College football 2018: Top 30 breakout players to watch

K.J. Costello split time with senior Keller Chryst at quarterback for Stanford last year. As a sophomore, he first saw the field in relief of Chryst who battled injuries all season and in many ways, Costello outplayed the senior starter. Costello also had much better injury luck than Chryst last year and his ability to stay on the field gave the offense more continuity and rhythm.

Unfortunately, with Chryst gone, Costello was forced to sit out almost all of spring practice with a hip injury. Stanford is going to be thin at quarterback this year so the pressure is on Costello not only to play well but especially to stay healthy the entire season. Fortunately, the quarterbacks best friend is a good ground game and Costello will have the best running back in the country in Bryce Love lining up behind him.

He completed only 58.8 percent of his passes last season but improved on that number down the stretch, besting his season average in three of five games for the Cardinal down the stretch in the regular season.

They knocked off Washington, California and Notre Dame in the three games Costello completed over 59-percent of his passes in November. If he can just do that on a consistent basis while relying on Love continue pounding away on the ground, Stanford could really make a run at the PAC 12 this season.