Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
WVU’s Stills Goes in 6th Round to Arizona Cardinals
April 29, 2023 05:23 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia defensive lineman Dante Stills was taken in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
The Fairmont resident was the 213th overall pick in this year's draft.
"Congratulations to Dante and his family on getting drafted by the Cardinals," WVU football coach Neal Brown said. "I'm really proud of all of his hard work and perseverance in pursuit of his dream of playing in the NFL. This is a well-earned opportunity that he has prepared for and has more than proven that he belongs. I look forward to watching him play on Sundays during his career and wish him the best."
He earned All-Big 12 First Team honors in 2022 after recording 26 tackles, 4 ½ sacks and nine tackles for losses.
In a school-record 59 career games, including 37 starts, Stills produced a program-best 52 ½ tackles for losses while finishing No. 4 in sacks with 23 ½. He also earned All-Big 12 First Team honors in 2021 after generating a career-high-tying seven sacks to go with 15 tackles for losses and six quarterback hurries.
Stills had seven sacks during his sophomore season in 2019.
He is the first WVU defensive lineman drafted since 2015 and the 14th taken in the draft since 1990. His father, Gary Stills, was drafted in 1999 after a stellar Mountaineer career and his older brother, Darius, signed a free agent contract following the 2021 season.
"I'm taking it like I don't have a job right now, so I've got to earn a spot and try and take a spot from somebody who has been in the league for seven or eight years with kids and stuff like that. Now my whole mentality has changed," he said last month. "It's a grown man's game."
Dante makes at least one West Virginia player taken in the NFL Draft in 15 of the last 16 years, tied for the second longest in the Big 12.
He becomes the 200th Mountaineer player taken in the draft since it began in 1936.
The NFL Draft continues through pick No. 259 to conclude round No. 7.
The Fairmont resident was the 213th overall pick in this year's draft.
"Congratulations to Dante and his family on getting drafted by the Cardinals," WVU football coach Neal Brown said. "I'm really proud of all of his hard work and perseverance in pursuit of his dream of playing in the NFL. This is a well-earned opportunity that he has prepared for and has more than proven that he belongs. I look forward to watching him play on Sundays during his career and wish him the best."
He earned All-Big 12 First Team honors in 2022 after recording 26 tackles, 4 ½ sacks and nine tackles for losses.
In a school-record 59 career games, including 37 starts, Stills produced a program-best 52 ½ tackles for losses while finishing No. 4 in sacks with 23 ½. He also earned All-Big 12 First Team honors in 2021 after generating a career-high-tying seven sacks to go with 15 tackles for losses and six quarterback hurries.
Stills had seven sacks during his sophomore season in 2019.
He is the first WVU defensive lineman drafted since 2015 and the 14th taken in the draft since 1990. His father, Gary Stills, was drafted in 1999 after a stellar Mountaineer career and his older brother, Darius, signed a free agent contract following the 2021 season.
"I'm taking it like I don't have a job right now, so I've got to earn a spot and try and take a spot from somebody who has been in the league for seven or eight years with kids and stuff like that. Now my whole mentality has changed," he said last month. "It's a grown man's game."
Dante makes at least one West Virginia player taken in the NFL Draft in 15 of the last 16 years, tied for the second longest in the Big 12.
He becomes the 200th Mountaineer player taken in the draft since it began in 1936.
The NFL Draft continues through pick No. 259 to conclude round No. 7.
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