Dante Stills

NoteCARDS:

• Selected by the Cardinals in the sixth round (213th overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft out of West Virginia and appeared in 31 games (18 starts) with 89 tackles, 8.0 sacks, 11 QB hits, nine tackles for loss, a pass defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in his first two seasons (2023-24).
• Led all Cardinals D-Linemen in both tackles and sacks in each of his first two seasons. Had 42 tackles and 4.5 in 2024 after posting 47 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 2023.
• Had multiple tackles in 26-of-31 games played in his first two seasons.
• Member of a Cardinals 2023 rookie class that led the NFL in total offensive/defensive snaps (4,654) by rookies and total starts (64) by rookies. Joined RT Paris Johnson Jr. (17) and WR Michael Wilson (12) as the only AZ rookies to start at least eight games in '23.
• Left West Virginia having earned a bachelor's degree in Multidisciplinary Studies. During his time with the Mountaineers, Stills also earned his way onto the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll.
• Played alongside his brother, Darius, at West Virginia and also has numerous NFL family connections: father, Gary, played 10 years (1999-08) in the NFL with the Chiefs, Ravens and Rams; uncle, Ken, played six years (1985-90) with the Packers and Vikings; cousin, Kenny, played nine years (2013-21) with the Saints, Dolphins and Texans.

NoteCARDS:

• Selected by the Cardinals in the sixth round (213th overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft out of West Virginia and appeared in 31 games (18 starts) with 89 tackles, 8.0 sacks, 11 QB hits, nine tackles for loss, a pass defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in his first two seasons (2023-24).
• Led all Cardinals D-Linemen in both tackles and sacks in each of his first two seasons. Had 42 tackles and 4.5 in 2024 after posting 47 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 2023.
• Had multiple tackles in 26-of-31 games played in his first two seasons.
• Member of a Cardinals 2023 rookie class that led the NFL in total offensive/defensive snaps (4,654) by rookies and total starts (64) by rookies. Joined RT Paris Johnson Jr. (17) and WR Michael Wilson (12) as the only AZ rookies to start at least eight games in '23.
• Left West Virginia having earned a bachelor's degree in Multidisciplinary Studies. During his time with the Mountaineers, Stills also earned his way onto the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll.
• Played alongside his brother, Darius, at West Virginia and also has numerous NFL family connections: father, Gary, played 10 years (1999-08) in the NFL with the Chiefs, Ravens and Rams; uncle, Ken, played six years (1985-90) with the Packers and Vikings; cousin, Kenny, played nine years (2013-21) with the Saints, Dolphins and Texans.

Pro Career:

Originally entered the NFL as a Cardinals sixth-round (213th overall) pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of West Virginia.

2024: Appeared in 16 games (10 starts) in his second NFL season and tallied 42 tackles, four tackles for loss, six QB hits, a forced fumble and a pass defensed ... posted a career-high 4.5 sacks for a total loss of 31.5 yards ... had five tackles vs. Det (9/22) along with a sack of Lions QB Jared Goff for a loss of seven yards ... posted five tackles (one solo) @ SF (10/6) ... registered two QB hits and a sack of Chargers QB Justin Herbert in the win vs. LAC (10/21) ... had four tackles (two solo), a sack, a forced fumble and a pass defensed in the win @ Mia (10/27); the forced fumble of Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa marked his first in the NFL and the sack gave him sacks in back-to-back games for the first time in his career; became the first Cardinal since DL J.J. Watt in Week 15 in 2022 to have a sack, forced fumble and pass defensed in a game ... had four tackles (one solo) and split a seven-yard sack of Bears QB Caleb Williams in the win vs. Chi (11/3) ... posted two solo tackles and a sack of Seahawks QB Geno Smith for a loss of 13 yards @ Sea (11/24) ... recorded two tackles and one QB hit @ Min (12/1) ... had three tackles in the win vs. SF (1/5/25).

2023: Played 15 games (eight starts) and totaled 47 tackles (five for loss), five QB hits, 3.5 sacks and one fumble recovery ... inactive @ Was (9/10) ... had two assisted tackles in his NFL debut vs. NYG (9/17) ... played in Cardinals win vs. Dal (9/24) ... made first career start @ SF (10/1) and had two tackles (one solo) ... started vs. Cin (10/8) recording six tackles (four solo) and one sack, the first of his career; became the first Cardinals rookie since Leki Fotu (Week 13, 2020) to have multiple tackles for loss in a game ... recorded four tackles @ LAR (10/15) ... posted two tackles (one solo) @ Sea (10/22) ... tallied five tackles and 1.5 sacks of QB Lamar Jackson for a loss of seven yards vs. Bal (10/29); became the first Cardinals rookie since 2011 (LB Sam Acho - 2.0) to have multiple sacks in a game ... registered five tackles (including one for loss) and a QB hit @ Cle (11/5) ... tallied three tackles in Cardinals win vs. Atl (11/12) ... recorded four tackles (including two for loss) and a sack of QB C.J. Stroud for a loss of 10 yards @ Hou (11/19) ... had four tackles vs. LAR (11/26) ... posted two tackles and a fumble recovery @ Pit (12/3), the fumble recovery of QB Mitch Trubisky marked the first of his career and set up a 21-yard Cardinals scoring drive ... recorded three tackles (two solo) vs. SF (12/17) ... registered four tackles @ Chi (12/24) ... had one tackle @ Phi (12/31) ... was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury on 1/5/24.

College:

In five seasons (2018-22) with the Mountaineers, started 37-of-59 games played and totaled 138 tackles, 52.5 tackles for loss, 23.5 sacks, an INT, five passes defensed, six forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks … established a program record for career games played (59) and left West Virginia as the program's all-time leader in tackles for loss (52.5) and 4th in school history with 23.5 sacks … after earning freshman All-American honors from ESPN.com and The Athletic in 2018, went on to garner All-Big 12 honors in four-straight seasons (2019-22), including first-team All-Big 12 accolades in each of his final two seasons (2021-22) ... in 2022, started all 12 games and was named first-team All-Big 12 (AP, Coaches, Phil Steele) after totaling 26 tackles, nine tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a pass defensed … had a monumental day @ Iowa State (11/5), breaking the school record for career games played while recording five tackles, a sack and a career-high three tackles for loss … the week prior, broke the school record for career tackles for loss against TCU with his TFL in the second quarter (10/29) … blocked the second kick of his career on a PAT vs. Baylor (10/13) ... in 2021, earned first-team All-Big 12 honors (AP, Coaches, Phil Steele) after starting 12-of-13 games played at DT and totaling a career-high 36 tackles, 7.0 sacks, a career-high 15 tackles for loss, six QB hurries, his first career INT, a pass defensed and a forced fumble … his 15 tackles for loss tied for the 10th -best single-season total in school history … recorded at least one tackle for loss in 10 of 13 games and finished #4 in the Big 12 in tackles for loss per game (1.15) and ranked in the top-10 in the Big 12 in sacks per game (0.54) … capped the season with four tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack against Minnesota in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl ... started all 10 games at DE in 2020, seeing action on 506 defensive snaps and 42 special teams plays … earned second-team All-Big 12 honors (AP) after totaling 35 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, a career-high two passes defensed, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick … his 10.5 tackles for loss tied for 11th in the Big 12 and he had a tackle for loss in nine of 10 games played … had his best game of the season @ Texas Tech (10/24), finishing with a career-high seven tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and his first career fumble recovery … blocked a FG vs. Baylor (10/3), the first blocked kick in his college career ... played 12 games with three starts at DE in 2019 and earned second-team All-Big 12 honors after totaling 29 tackles, 7.0 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss, a pass defensed and a forced fumble … his 7.0 sacks tied for the team lead while his 11.5 ranked 2nd … ranked 4th in the Big 12 in sacks per game (0.58) and 10th in tackles for loss per game (0.96) … had three games with multiple tackles for loss and two games with multiple sacks ... earned freshman All-American honors from The Athletic and ESPN after appearing in all 12 games in 2018 and totaling 16 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and two forced fumbles … his two forced fumbles tied for the team lead.

Personal:

Attended Fairmont Senior (Fairmont, WV) High School where he was a three-time Class AA All-State selection and four-time Times West Virginian all-area pick … ranked as the #1 prospect in the state by ESPN.com, Rivals.com and 247Sports … led the Polar Bears to consecutive state runner-up finishes in 2016 and 2017 … as a senior in 2017, was a team captain and a first-team Class AA All-State pick after helping the team to a 12-2 record … collected 81 tackles, 31.5 tackles for loss and 11.0 sacks as a senior … as a junior in 2016, earned first-team All-State honors after posting 75 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks … as a sophomore in 2015 took home second-team all-state honors.