Cardinals Rookie DL Dante Stills Boasts Upside

Rounding out our profile series of the Arizona Cardinals 2023 rookie class is West Virginia's Dante Stills, who is another accomplished player that you should watch out for.

Author:
Richie Bradshaw
Publish date:
Jul 3, 2023 5:05 PM EDT

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Arizona Cardinals

The final selection the Arizona Cardinals made in the 2023 NFL Draft was Dante Stills out of West Virginia. Like everyone else in the team's draft class, Stills is a very accomplished player who has accumulated good stats and many accolades during his college career.

He truly put that final exclamation point on Monti Ossenfort and Jonathan Gannon's type of player in their debut draft for the team.

Stills was one of the best players the Mountaineers have seen in the last several years, and one of their top recruits over that time frame, as he was the number one in-state prospect. He has NFL bloodlines, too. His father Gary Stills played 10 seasons in the NFL and his brother Darius bounced around on a couple of practice squads. Dante has a chance to make an impact at the next level.

Today, we wrap up our rookie player profiles with Stills and I ended up liking him quite a bit. Let's take a look at the defensive lineman and break down what we know and what he could do in year one for the Cardinals.

Accomplishments

Former four-star recruit in 2018 class and number one recruit in West Virginia
37 career starts (55 games played)
137 career tackles
53.0 career tackles for loss
24.5 career sacks (career-best 8.0 sacks in 2019)
Two-time All-Big 12 First-Team player (2021, 2022)
One-time All-Bog 12 Second-Team (2020)

2023 NFL Draft profile

Son of Gary Stills (10-year NFL career and third-round pick by the Chiefs in 1999)
Quality size at 6'3" 286 lbs.
Versatile defensive lineman with career starts both at defensive end and defensive tackle
Good Combine testing numbers (8th best among defensive tackles)

What the tape shows

Stills as a prospect is the classic "tweener" player that many have grown to either love or hate. Stills doesn't quite have the speed to be a defensive end, but he also doesn't quite have the size to be a defensive tackle. Finding a full-time role for him won't be easy, but he has the athleticism and production to get your attention.

When watching Stills it's hard not to notice the athleticism he showed off at the combine. Stills has shown the ability to knife in between blockers with his get-up and get skinny to avoid seal blocks. Stills also has good hand usage that helps him to not get swallowed up by opposing linemen and disengage from blocks. To use terminology as old as time, he's got a hot motor and plays hard every down.

The problem with Stills as a prospect is more projection than what the tape shows. Stills is a tweener through in through and it's more often than not that those kinds of players struggle to transition. Stills also doesn't have a complete game at the position and often plays with a high pad level. The leverage he allows will give NFL linemen an edge no more how athletic he is.

Projected role for 2023

I don't believe that Stills is a project like many late-round picks are. Rather, I think this is a player that you know exactly what you're getting from day one. Stills projects as a rotational defensive lineman and a key cog in said rotation.

There is room for Stills to improve, but this feels like a tapped-out player and that would be why he went as late as he did. That could play in his favor, however, especially when you look at the lack of proven players along the Cardinals' defensive line.

You normally won't hear this about many sixth-round draft choices, but I believe that Stills could work his way into the rotation quickly and could even see significant playing time in year one. It won't be easy, but he may be the late-round steal that fans dream of having.

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