Dante Stills Named a Top 50 Player by Pro Football Focus

The Mountaineer defensive end is viewed as one of the top players in the country.

Senior West Virginia defensive end Dante Stills was slated as the 35th-best player in the country by Pro Football Focus earlier this week in their release of the top 50 players heading into the 2021 season.

Stills emerged as a mauler in the run game last year and was undoubtedly the best interior defensive lineman in the Big 12. His 90.2 run-defense grade ranked second to Alim McNeill (formerly of NC State, now with the Detroit Lions) for the best in the Power Five. He came away with 15 tackles for loss or no gain — four more than anyone else in the Power Five. And he was one of three interior defensive linemen to finish with top-10 marks in negatively and positively graded play rate against the run.

Stills racked up 35 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, and two sacks in just 10 games in 2020 and although those are very good numbers for a shortened season, Stills was disappointed in his sack totals, and rightfully so. The year prior, he registered seven sacks and was considered one of the top pass rushers in the Big 12. 

"My main goal going into my junior year was pretty much to leave [for the NFL Draft]," Stills said. "I wanted to be a three-year and out guy. I wanted to be that dude that's a boss and is a dude that is able to go three and out but throughout the season I wasn't performing at the level I thought I could. People thought I did good but my stats weren't showing it which is kind of a big deal. I just felt like I didn't do it as much as I needed to to be at that level. That's why I thought it was just best for me to stay another year and work so I'm able to be at that level next year."

Stills will start the final year of his WVU career on September 4th when the Mountaineers take on the Maryland Terrapins to open up the season.

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