David Sills V (born May 29, 1996) is an American professional

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wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

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of the

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(NFL). As a seventh-grade

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in 2010, he garnered national attention when he verbally committed to play football at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. In 2014, Sills decommitted from

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and eventually signed a national letter of intent to play at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

. Sills began his college career as a quarterback, but moved to wide receiver as a freshman. After spending his freshman year playing for the West Virginia Mountaineers, Sills transferred to El Camino College, but transferred back to West Virginia in 2017. He led the nation that season in touchdown receptions and was a first-team 2017 College Football All-America Team selection by ''

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'', ''

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'' and

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for the 2017 West Virginia Mountaineers. He led the 2018 Big 12 Conference in touchdowns and was named 2018 All-Big 12 Conference football team first-team selection as well as a Second-team 2018 College Football All-American by the

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and American Football Coaches Association.

Early life

Sills was born in 1996. His parents are Denise and David Sills IV. He has two older sisters, Emma and Abby. His father is a commercial developer and contractor, who played

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for the Virginia Military Institute. He began playing youth football at age six and began training at age nine with

trainer Steve Clarkson.

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is the head coach at Ole Miss Rebels football, Ole Miss. Kiffin was the offensive coordinator at USC Trojans football, USC from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the National Foo ...

offered Sills a

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to play

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at USC in 2010. Sills gave USC a non-binding verbal commitment in 2010. Sills was among the youngest football players to receive a scholarship offer from a major football program. As a high school freshman, Sills was the starting quarterback for Red Lion Christian Academy, a private Delaware school for grades K-12. ''

'' hailed him as one of the greatest prospects ever, and ''

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'' described him as the "best arm money can buy". At Red Lion in 2010, he accumulated 1,355 passing yards and nine touchdowns against five interceptions in eight games. In 2011, he totalled 2,340 yards and 28 touchdowns in what was his second year as a varsity quarterback. He was named a MaxPreps.com U.S. Air Force second-team freshman All-American. As a sophomore, Sills became the quarterback for Eastern Christian Academy (ECA) of

Elkton, Maryland Elkton is a town in and the county seat of Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,776 at the 2020 census, up from 15,443 in 2010. It was formerly called Head of Elk because it sits at the head of navigation on the Elk R ...

. The move was controversial because the school was a newly-formed online school. All enrolled boys were on the 46-man football team established by David Sills IV to showcase their talents to college scouts. Eastern Christian Academy was only able to play in three games in 2012 due to the school's failure to gain accreditation from the state. As a junior, Sills injured his knuckle and his delivery was impacted forever.

, who had originally offered Sills a scholarship back in 2010, was fired by USC in 2013. He was replaced by Ed Orgeron on an interim basis. Eventually, USC would hire Steve Sarkisian to become the new head coach. According to Sills' father, Sarkisian told his son that USC would honor their scholarship offer. While receiving reassurance from Sarkisian, the Sillses got the feeling that David wasn't USC's first option. USC had offered and eventually signed two highly ranked quarterbacks in the same class,

Sam Darnold Sam Richard Darnold (born June 5, 1997) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans football, USC Trojans, winn ...

and Ricky Town. Sills decommitted from USC in June 2014.

College career

West Virginia

On July 16, 2014, Sills announced his commitment to

via Twitter. Sills was one of West Virginia's early enrollees from the 2015 recruiting class. As a result, he was able to participate in spring practice. He battled fellow quarterbacks Skyler Howard, William Crest Jr. and Chris Chugunov for the starting quarterback spot. Howard was eventually named the starting quarterback. Sills earned playing time as a

after impressing coaches with his performance on the scout team. On October 17, 2015, Sills made his collegiate debut against the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

. He finished the game with two receptions for 64 yards. His second collegiate reception was a 35-yard touchdown. He made the game-winning touchdown reception in the 2016 Cactus Bowl against Arizona State and ended the season with seven receptions for 131 yards. During spring drills in 2016, Sills split time between quarterback and wide receiver. After West Virginia's 2016 spring game, West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen stated that Howard solidified his position as the starting quarterback and that Crest and Chugunov would continue to battle for the backup quarterback spot. With several quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart and former

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starting quarterback Will Grier scheduled to become eligible to play for the Mountaineers in 2017, it appeared unlikely Sills would ever get an opportunity to play quarterback at West Virginia.

El Camino College

On June 23, 2016, Sills announced he would transfer to El Camino College. He spent seven months on the couch of high school friend Khaliel Rodgers who was on the USC roster as an offensive lineman at the time. In his lone season playing for the Warriors, Sills played quarterback and threw for 1,636 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Return to West Virginia

On December 15, 2016, West Virginia football announced on Twitter that Sills would be returning to West Virginia. In West Virginia's 2017 spring game, Sills lined up at wide receiver and caught six passes for 98 yards from Will Grier. In the September 3 season opener for the 2017 West Virginia Mountaineers against the 21st-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies Sills posted nine receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns in a losing effort against the Hokies. On September 9, Sills posted seven catches for a career-high 153 yards and a career-high three touchdowns against East Carolina. He then tallied 130 yards and two touchdowns against

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

on September 23. Following the Kansas game and a bye week Sills was tied for the national lead in touchdown receptions with seven in his first four games and then he added two touchdown receptions on October 7 against

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, bringing his total to nine. Sills added three more touchdown receptions on October 14 against Texas Tech extending his national lead. Sills' three receiving touchdowns on October 21 in a 38–36 victory over Baylor gave sills a total of 15 for the season, which continued to lead the nation. Sills made his 17th and 18th touchdown catches of the season on November 11 against Kansas State. However, in the following game, starting quarterback Grier was lost for the season, and Sills finished the season with 18 touchdowns. As a junior, Sills received numerous honors. On November 13, he was one of three 2017 Big 12 Conference football wide receivers named as a semifinalist for the

Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

(along with James Washington and Keke Coutee). A week later he was named as one of three finalists for the award (along with Washington and

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). On November 30, Sills was the only member of the 2017 West Virginia Mountaineers football team named to the 2017 All-Big 12 Conference football first team. Sills finished the season as the

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touchdown receptions leader with 18 (tied with Anthony Miller). Sills earned 2017 College Football All-America Team first-team recognition from ''

'', ''

'' and

. Sills also earned several second-team All-American honors, including

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, ''

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'', and American Football Coaches Association. Sills decided to return to play his senior season with Grier. Sills entered the season on watchlists for the

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, Fred Biletnikoff Award, and

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. With Grier back for their senior seasons, Sills opened up the season with a seven-catch, 140-yard, two-touchdown effort in a victory over

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. The Mountaineers schedule was cut short one game when Hurricane Florence caused a cancellation of the September 15 game at NC State. On September 22, Sills tallied three touchdowns against Kansas State. Sills also had 2-touchdown performances against Baylor (139 yards) on October 25,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

on November 3, and

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(131 yards) on November 23. Sills' 15 touchdowns led the Big 12. Following the season, he was a 2018 All-Big 12 Conference football team first-team selection. Sills earned 2018 College Football All-America Team second-team recognition by the

and, American Football Coaches Association. He earned third-team recognition from the

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Sills signed with the

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as an undrafted free agent on April 27, 2019. He was waived by the Bills on August 31.

New York Giants

On September 1, 2019, Sills was signed to the

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of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. On December 17, Sills was promoted to the active roster. Sills was placed on the reserve/

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list by the Giants on July 28, 2020, and activated from the list on August 4. On September 4, Sills was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in t ...

after fracturing his foot during training camp. He was placed on the reserve/

list by the team on December 30, and moved back to injured reserve on January 7, 2021. Sills signed a contract extension with the team on January 7 through the 2021 season. On August 31, 2021, Sills was waived by the Giants and re-signed to their practice squad the next day. On October 23, Sills was signed to the active roster. He was waived on October 26, and re-signed to the practice squad. On January 8, 2022, Sills was promoted to the active roster. On March 11, 2022, Sills re-signed with the Giants. He surpassed 100 career receiving yards in Week 7 against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

, when he recorded a 19-yard reception that increased his career total from 99 to 118 receiving yards. Sills was released on December 31. He re-signed with the team's practice squad on January 3, 2023. Sills signed a reserve/future contract on January 26, 2023. He was waived as part of final roster cuts on August 29.

Denver Broncos

On August 31, 2023, Sills was signed to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 8, 2024. On August 27, 2024, Sills was released by the Broncos. The next day, he was re-signed to the practice squad.

Atlanta Falcons

On January 21, 2025, Sills signed a reserve/future contract with the

Notes

External links

Denver Broncos bio

West Virginia Mountaineers profile

El Camino College Warriors profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sills, David 1996 births Living people American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers Buffalo Bills players Denver Broncos players El Camino Warriors football players New York Giants players Players of American football from Wilmington, Delaware West Virginia Mountaineers football players Atlanta Falcons players