A lot of people thought Darius Stills would be drafted this year. Including Stills himself. And when he didn’t, the standout defensive tackle out of West Virginia landed squarely on several lists of the top undrafted free agents.
He chose to sign with the Raiders. And with the buzz surrounding him, I reached out to speak with him to try and get to the bottom of things.
What he told me was about how he’d been “slept on” at every level now. Mostly due to his size (6-0, 282). And he outplayed expectations each time.
This week Football Outsiders named Stills the most notable undrafted defender the Raiders signed this offseason.
West Virginia defensive tackle Darius Stills has some untapped athleticism. Stills’ short-shuttle, three-cone drill, 40-yard dash, broad jump, and vertical jump at the WVU pro day all come in above the 75th percentile among defensive tackle prospects since 1999.
Tuesday the rubber met the road, with Stills taking the field with his new veteran teammates for the first time for the start of OTA’s. And already Stills is turning heads. Including that of former Raiders top pick Clelin Ferrell.
“I don’t really evaluate guys until we put the pads on, but a guy who I like a lot is Darius Stills, an undrafted rookie from West Virginia,” said Ferrell after the second OTA practice. “Real, real good dude but he got a lot of twitch. He played three-technique. He got a lot of twitch. You can just tell in the movements when we on drills and stuff like that. He got a little something to him, so I like his game a little bit.”
Stills will have a chance to make this Raiders roster. While coaches say there are open competitions at positions when there really isn’t, there figures to be as close to an open competition as you can get at the DT spot for the Raiders.
With holdovers Maurice Hurst and David Irving both cut this offseason, there are entirely new faces at the 3-tech spot. None of whom have a lock on a roster spot, let alone a starting job. The rest of the group consists of Solomon Thomas, Quinton Jefferson, and Matt Dickerson. Darius Philon and Johnathan Hankins figure to compete/rotate at the other defensive tackle spot.