Bengals met with West Virginia defensive tackle Darius Stills

The Cincinnati Bengals know that the trenches on both sides of the ball need addressed this offseason.

Cincinnati already has D.J. Reader paired with Larry Ogunjobi for the 2021 season, but they will also need a few more long term rotational pieces to add to the defensive line.

One name that could come off the board early on Day 3 to fill that need is West Virginia Mountaineers defensive tackle Darius Still, who the Bengals have met with.

Stills finished off his college career strong. He lived in the backfield with 25.5 tackles for a loss and 11 sacks in his career. The last two seasons is where most of his production has come from as the Mountaineers switched from a 3-3-5 defense to a more traditional 4-3, which allowed Stills to be a disruption from the three technique.

The defensive tackle may have been one of the best in the country at creating pressure from the inside. Stills is quick to get out of his stance and attack the offensive line. Sometimes it looks like he gets going before the lineman across from him even has a chance to get out of his stance. He isn’t just quick though. He has plenty of power and a motor that makes him an ideal pass rusher at the NFL level.

The main issue with Stills is his sometimes unorthodox style of rushing the passing by taking unusual paths around his lineman makes him a liability in the running game. He often completely abandons his gap. He also struggles when the offensive line hits him with a double team.

These are things that can easily be coached, though. As far as his physical traits go you couldn’t ask for a much better pass rusher from the inside. Stills will easily slide in as a rotational pass rusher early in his career, which is really what the Bengals would need him for right now anyway. There is a possibility he could also develop into a starting defensive tackle down the road as well given his skill set.