The next step in Dante Stills’ football career is about to get underway.

Stills, the Mountaineer football legacy and Fairmont, West Virginia native, was selected by the Arizona Cardinals with the 213th overall pick (6th round) in the 2023 NFL Draft on Saturday.

Stills becomes the second member of his family to be selected by an NFL team, and the third member of his family who will get a shot in the top league in professional football.

ESPN’s Louis Riddick called him, “Very, very disruptive,” shortly after the pick was announced.

“Congratulations to Dante and his family on getting drafted by the Cardinals,” Neal Brown said in a statement through the Mountaineer football program. “I’m really proud of all of his hard work and perseverance in pursuit of his dream of playing in the NFL. This is a well-earned opportunity that he has prepared for and has more than proved that he belongs. I look forward to watching him play on Sundays during his career and wish him the best.”

The five-year WVU standout moved up several of the program’s all-time lists this past season.

Stills, of course, is most known for becoming the Mountaineer football program’s all-time leader in tackles for loss with 52.5. He recorded nine TFLs last season to take over the top spot in WVU football history. Stills is also the program’s all-time leader in tackle for loss yards (250) and sack yards (177). That means he created more than four football fields worth of stops behind the line of scrimmage. He also played in a school-record 58 games.

The Fairmont native collected 23.5 sacks from his defensive tackle position, good enough for the fourth most on West Virginia’s all-time list. He finished his career just 2.5 sacks shy of matching his father’s career total. Stills is also tied for sixth in program history with six career forced fumbles.

The former high school All-American was a consistent performer with West Virginia. He recorded three years of 10 or more tackles for loss, and four seasons of at least nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Stills earned a several accolades during his Mountaineer career, including a pair of first team All-Big 12 honors. He was an honorable mention All-American by Pro Football Focus in 2020, and a freshman All-American by ESPN and The Athletic in 2018. Stills was recognized by the Big 12 Conference in all but one season.

He not only measured well in traditional statistics, but graded well in advanced analytics as well. Stills earned a Top 10 career grade among draft-eligible defensive tackles, according to Pro Football Focus. That is the same site that gave him the second-best season grade among Big 12 defensive tackles this past season.

Stills also helped his draft stock earlier this year when he had one of the best 40-yard dash times and Athleticism Scores at the NFL Combine. He was recognized by the East-West Shrine Bowl for his professionalism.

Stills is the fourth WVU player selected in the draft since Brown took over the program, and the first since Tony Fields II in 2021.