Six games remain in the Arizona Cardinals’ 2024 season, and it might be a surprise to realize who the team leader is in sacks.
That would be second-year defensive lineman Dante Stills, who has 4.5 for a loss of 31.5 yards, a half-sack ahead of edge rusher Zaven Collins, who has 4.0.
As a team, the Cardinals have 29 and despite the persistent outside chatter that 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 make his presence felt whenever he is 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 has not been below 53 since the game against the 49ers in Week 5 when he was at 42 percent.
Stills has also compiled 30 tackles with 13 solo and four for loss to go with five quarterback hits, one forced fumble and a pass breakup.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis used the word consistent several times when talking about Stills this week.
“He’s making a bunch of plays and winning a bunch of one-on-ones,” Gannon said. “He’s taken a step with his consistency of doing the right thing and playing with proper technique, and really the consistency of that, it’s allowed his physical skillset to come alive. When your first step is wrong, typically the O-lineman’s going to win the down. When your first step is right, now his explosiveness, his power and his strength can show up.
“If you let that guy punch you first, now you have to get to a counter. He’s punching people first, so I think that just the consistency of doing the right thing and his technique is allowing him to make plays and win some one-on-ones. His game has really ascended since he got here last year, (through) the offseason and until now. He’s a guy that’s steadily improving, so it’s good. He’s a good player. He’s making plays for us.”
Stills said, “The first year I was all new to this. Speed of the game, the playbook. But I’m way better with my preparation, watching film, the playbook and all that.”
Rallis said Stills’ success with rushing the passer is traced to preparation, which is helped by line coach Derrick LeBlanc and outside linebackers coach Rob Rodriguez.
“He’s got a plan in his head and that goes to the preparation of week to week who am I going against?” Rallis said. “What do I feel with my skill set is going to be a beneficial rush on my opponent? Rob and Derrick do a great job with the rush meetings in terms of this is what they do. This is their personnel. And here are some tools that you can use to combat that. But ultimately don’t want to pigeonhole guys into having to rush a certain way. So Dante does a really good job of knowing what his plan is going into the game and putting his plan to work.”
Rallis said the magic “C” word when asked how his overall progress has happened: “Consistency. That’s something I’ve harped on him since he got here because he’ll have really good plays since Day 1. But then, it’s the plays that aren’t up to his standard that I’m always on him about and I feel like he’s just played it with a little bit of a higher standard, more consistently.”
Going back to the importance of “preparation throughout the week,” Rallis added, “Whether it’s when we have structured time and meetings and practice, you see a very intentional focus on what he’s trying to get done. Really the whole D-line room. But really it’s the work he’s putting it outside of those structured times, so you know that kind of preparation is going to lead to better performance.”
Stills loves the guidance he gets from Rallis and his position coaches.
“Every day he’s telling me about my pad level, consistency just to wire me into focusing every day. Hard coaching. I’m very hard on myself, probably more than anybody in the building because I know what type of player I can be. I definitely appreciate the coaches taking the time with me.”
Finally, Rallis explained why it can be difficult for players to have consistency on every play, thanks to the reality that there are pros on the other side of the ball and there are simply going to be times when the opponent wins the battle.
“That’s football,” he said. “But there’s a lot of things that go into that starting with the brain, your ability to focus, to be able to maintain that high level of focus throughout. It’s your stamina. When you’re tired, the technique, the assignment, that focus kind of disappears. Several factors go into that over the course of a long game and then over the course of a long NFL season.
“But I think guys are doing a really good job of taking care of, as JG says, their five buckets. When you take care of your health and you maximize your recovery, fill in your body the correct way; you’re getting your sleep and you’re pouring into continuing to master the scheme, master your technique, you’re going to see more consistent play.”
Concluded Stills, “The first year I was like, I’m probably messing up too much, but now it’s always next-play mentality.”
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