DL Dante Stills continues to play in the Cardinals defense

With six games remaining in the Arizona Cardinals’ 2024 season, it could be a surprise to see who the team leader in sacks is.

That would be second-year defensive lineman Dante Stills, who has 4.5 for a loss of 31.5 yards, half a sack ahead of edge rusher Zaven Collins, who has 4.0.

As a team, the Cardinals have 29 players, and while outsiders always claim the team has the worst pass rush group in the NFL, the reality is that they rank 14th in the league in sacks per pass play .

A sixth-round pick in 2023, Stills continues to show growth and makes his presence felt whenever he’s on the field. In the D-line rotation, Stills has played at least 53 percent of the snaps in seven of the 10 games he has played. He hasn’t been below 53 since the game against the 49ers in Week 5, when he was at 42 percent.

Stills also compiled 30 tackles, 13 solo and four for loss, with five quarterback hits, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis used the word “consistent” several times when discussing Stills this week.

“He makes a lot of plays and wins a lot of one-on-ones,” Gannon said. “He has taken a step with his consistency in doing the right thing and playing with the right technique, and that consistency allows him to bring his physical abilities to life. If your first step is wrong, the O-lineman will usually win the down. If the first step is correct, his explosiveness, his power and his strength can now be shown.

“If you let this guy hit you first, now you have to go to a counter. He beats people first, so I think just the consistency of doing the right thing and his technique allows him to make plays and win some one-on-one games. His game has really evolved since his arrival last year, in the offseason and until now. He’s a guy who’s constantly improving, so it’s good. He is a good player. He makes plays for us.”

Stills said: “The first year I was completely new to this area. Speed ​​of play, the playbook. But I’m much better with my preparation, watching films, scripting and all that.”

Rallis said Stills’ success rushing the passer was due to preparation helped by line coach Derrick LeBlanc and outside linebackers coach Rob Rodriguez.

“He has a plan in mind and that goes into the weekly preparation, who am I going against?” Rallis said. “What do I think will trigger an advantageous rush on my opponent with my abilities? Rob and Derrick do a great job with the rush meetings because that’s what they do. This is your staff. And here are some tools you can use to combat this. But ultimately I don’t want to put people in a box and force them to rush in a certain way. So Dante does a really good job of knowing his plan in the game and putting it into action.”

Rallis said the magic “C” word when asked about his overall progress: “Consistency. That’s something I’ve been eyeing for him since he arrived because he’s going to make really good plays from day one. But on the other hand, it’s the plays that don’t meet his standard that I always blame him for, and I did too. He just played it at a little higher level and more consistently.”

Going back to the importance of “preparing throughout the week,” Rallis added, “Whether it’s structured schedules, meetings and exercises, you can tell he’s consciously focused on what he’s trying to get done.” Really the whole room the D-line. But really it’s the work he does outside of those structured times that you know that kind of preparation is going to lead to better performance.”

Stills loves the guidance he receives from Rallis and his position coaches.

“Every day he tells me about my pad level and my consistency just to get me to focus every day. Hard coaching. I’m very hard on myself, probably more than anyone else in the building, because I know what type of player I can be. I definitely appreciate the coaches taking time for me.”

Finally, Rallis explained why it can be difficult for players to show consistency on every play because there are professionals on the other side of the ball and there will simply be times when the opponent wins the battle.

“This is football,” he said. “But there are a lot of things that come into play, starting with the brain, your ability to concentrate so that you can maintain that high level of concentration throughout. It’s your endurance. When you’re tired, the technique, the task, that focus disappears. Over the course of a long game and then over the course of a long NFL season, several factors come into play.

“But I think, as JG says, the guys are taking really good care of their five buckets. When you take care of your health and maximize your recovery, you replenish your body the right way; You sleep and put in the effort to continue to master the scheme, master your technique, you’ll see more consistent play.”

Stills concluded: “First year I thought I was probably screwing up too much, but now it’s always the mentality to play next.”

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