Dallas Cowboys 7-Round Mock Draft: Operating in Balance

Dallas Cowboys Mock Draft

3rd Round, Pick 74

Darius Stills, IDL, West Virginia

In the third round once again the Cowboys are picking an undersized interior defensive lineman from the Big 12. If you thought the second round schtick was good enough, I’m back with another schtick that seemingly reaps bigger benefits.

Darius Stills stands at 6-foot-1, 286 pounds. In four years with the Mountaineers, Stills has recorded 81 total tackles, 47 solo tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, and an interception in 30 games. Good college production with solid athletic upside will warrant at least a Day 2 pick but it seems Stills’ rather adequate size has some questioning his fit at the next level.

In college, he excelled as a 1-gapping 3-technique who used his good upfield burst and a lower center of gravity to turn speed into power to effectively bull rush interior offensive linemen and collapse the pocket. Even for his size, Still is quite physical at the point of attack and shows enough play strength to disengage from his blockers in the run game.

It’s possible with his good upfield burst, solid instincts, and solid leg strength he could be a versatile defensive lineman who can work on multiple fronts. Dan Quinn, known for coaching a 1-gapping penetration style defense, does use multiple fronts quite extensively to create more pressure. Stills has similar vibes to a collegiate version of Grady Jarrett but seems to be more effective as a pass rusher in his time in Morgantown.

A future with DeMarcus Lawrence, Neville Gallimore, Darius Stills, and Randy Gregory seems quite bright for the team has all players show good explosiveness and the interior can use their lower center of gravity and good leg strength to collapse the pocket for Lawrence and Gregory to finally accumulate sacks in big numbers.

I’m drooling over the possibilities here and it’s possible the team could be on the same wavelength. It’s also possible I’m just completely wrong on the evaluation and they elect to draft someone much bigger at this spot like a name I mention later on in this mock draft.