West Virginia defensive lineman Dante Stills is excited for the next chapter.
After five productive seasons in Morgantown where he appeared in 59 games and set a program record for tackles for loss with 52.5, Stills is currently trying his hand at the NFL Draft Process. That has included an impressive performance at the Combine and then making another positive impression at his Pro Day.
The son of former NFL pass rusher Gary Stills, the Fairmont native is now looking to make his own mark but that’s not to say there aren’t some nerves.
“The unknown stresses you out. The Shrine Bowl and the Combine were long weeks. This is probably the two longest weeks I’ve had in this process with a lot of meetings and film,” he said.
Stills relied mostly on the numbers he posted at the Combine at his Pro Day event but did want to show that he could improve on his bench press totals and did so by throwing up 26 reps of 225-pounds. He also demonstrated what he could do on the football field as well.
“I definitely showed them I am able to get those high reps. I’m able to move around and bend,” he said.
On top of the combine testing, Stills also believes he has proven what he can do on film and is going though the interview process answering any questions that are needed.
Stills plans to spend Draft weekend surrounded by his family but the journey to get to that point has been one that he won’t soon forget. He has spoken or met with representatives from several NFL teams and has addressed a number of different topics such as his background to weekends in Morgantown.
One positive for Stills is that he can rely on the advice of his brother Darius who just a few short years ago traversed this process and spent some time at the NFL level.
Stills is enjoying the process with the draft rapidly approaching and has talked with plenty of teams such as Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco and more.
“It’s just a lot,” he said.
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