It’s common knowledge within the realm of football that excellent quarterbacks can be transformed into even better wide receivers, and this happens frequently, as the NFL tends to need more of the latter. As one of the best contemporary wide receivers in the NCAA, David Sills V, prepares to enter the 2019 NFL Draft, let’s look back on the all-star’s journey from being recruited by a college as a 13-year-old quarterback to today.
Born on May 29, 1996, Sills has had football in his blood from the get-go. His father, David Sills IV, was a cornerback for the Virginia Military Institute and later created Eastern Christian Academy in Elkton, Maryland, an online-based high school where Sills V and 45 other boys became part of a football team made specifically to exhibit their skills to college scouts. This school was established just three years after seventh grader Sills V received a call from University of Southern California football coach, Lane Kiffin. Kiffin, impressed by the youngster’s throwing and scrambling abilities, called to offer Sills V a position on his college football team in 2010. Sills V verbally committed, and his rise to becoming a household name slowly began.
During his freshman year of high school in 2010, Sills V was a quarterback for Red Lion Christian Academy, where he was hailed by prominent sports outlets such as Sports Illustrated as a remarkable prospect. Within this year – the same year he obtained the USC offer – Sills threw for 1,355 passing yards and nine touchdowns; the following year, he amassed 2,340 yards and 28 touchdowns. At his father’s school, Eastern Christian Academy, in 2012, the team was only able to play three games because the school couldn’t attain state accreditation. The following year, Sills V injured his knuckle, ultimately affecting his throwing ability and altering the state of his power as a quarterback.
Of course, he was continually noted as an exceptional quarterback. Then-coach of USC, Lane Kiffin, was fired in 2013 and replaced later by Steve Sarkisan, who promised to honor the offer given to Sills V back in 2010. USC had offered two other highly coveted quarterbacks at the same time, though, and Sills V didn’t feel he was USC’s first choice. He decommitted from USC in 2014 and committed to West Virginia University a month later.
After fighting against three other quarterbacks during WVU’s spring practice, Sills V lost out to Skylar Howard; however, Sills impressed coaches with his receiving abilities and debuted in the game against Baylor that season, garnering 64 yards off two receptions, with one being a touchdown. He concluded the 2015 season with seven receptions for 131 yards. The following season, Howard continued to be the starting quarterback and it was announced that starting Florida quarterback Will Grier planned on coming to play for the Mountaineers; Sills announced in June before the season started that he was transferring to El Camino College in Torrance, California. Sills V garnered 1,636 yards and 15 touchdowns during his only season there as a quarterback. Just six months after transferring from WVU, it was announced Sills V would be returning to play football for them once more.
Sills V slowly became one of the greatest wide receivers WVU has ever obtained. He finished the 2017 season with 18 touchdown receptions (tying Anthony Miller for the most of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision) and earned several honors throughout the year, including being the lone WVU player named to the 2017 All-Big 12 Conference football team and attaining 2017 College Football All-America Team recognition from a plethora of prominent sports publications. He was Heisman hopeful Will Grier’s go-to receiver and became adorned by football lovers everywhere, especially within the Mountaineer family.
After ending his collegiate football career in an uneventful bowl game loss to Syracuse, Sills now heads to the NFL Draft with a total of 132 receptions, 2097 yards and 35 touchdowns. Who wouldn’t want a player of this caliber streaking up the field for their team? We’ll see in the 2019 NFL Draft as Sills makes his final transition; after going from being a young star quarterback to becoming a stellar wide receiver, he will finally move from being a Mountaineer to making a name for himself wherever the NFL takes him.
Bre Callahan 