Getty Amon-Ra St. Brown makes a catch for the Lions in 2022.
In order to turn the fortunes of their franchise around, the Detroit Lions have relied heavily on the NFL draft, and specifically recent drafts.
Thus far, the good news for Detroit has been the fact that they have dominated those selection meetings. Arguably their biggest find amongst many others has been wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
St. Brown has burst on the scene in a big way since being a fourth-round pick of the Lions back in 2021, and as a result, he has earned some major respect relative to his draft class.
Recently, Bleacher Report and writer David Kenyon took part in starting to rank the top steal players in the last three drafts. Perhaps not surprisingly given how they have drafted, the Lions landed one in the form of St. Brown.
As Kenyon explained, St. Brown is the steal of the 2021 draft in his mind, and that was given not only how he excelled as a rookie, but managed to back it up as a second-year player.
“On a bad Detroit Lions team in 2021, he still gathered 973 yards from scrimmage and totaled six touchdowns. Last year, the USC product stood out as Detroit’s only reliable receiver and pulled in 106 passes for 1,161 yards and six more scores. Several factors aided the Lions’ rise to respectability and a near-playoff bid in 2022, but St. Brown’s impact was inarguable,” Kenyon wrote of St. Brown and his impact.
Famously, St. Brown has a running list of players who were picked ahead of him at wide receiver from the 2021 class to motivate him. Early on, it seems as if he is the best of the bunch thanks to the work he has put in to get himself to that point.
In the minds of some, St. Brown’s work is already paying off as it relates to making this happen.
Amon-Ra St. Brown Having Quick Start to Career
This past year, the wideout did nothing to change the notion that he is a player on the rise to be taken seriously in terms of star power in the league.
Through the end of the season, St. Brown was the Lions’ leading receiver. He managed to put up 1,161 yards and six touchdowns on the 2022 season. The fact that he was able to finish over 1,000 yards was a big feather in his cap toward being thought of as an elite talent in the league. That’s especially true given the feat came in Detroit, a place not accustomed to such performances since Calvin Johnson’s retirement.
St. Brown’s best game of the year did come on Thanksgiving Day, where he went for 122 yards and a score against a solid Buffalo team. Perhaps this effort will start to get him on more national radars.
St. Brown delivered another big day for Detroit, putting up 114 yards and two touchdowns against Jacksonville. Perhaps the most impressive score on the day happened late in the fourth quarter on first-and-goal, when St. Brown was able to shake free and put a dagger in the Jaguars:
Have a game, @amonra_stbrown ☀️
#ProBowlVote | JAXvsDET | 📺 FOX
In total, St. Brown has posted 2,073 yards and 11 touchdowns in his first two seasons, which is a great start to his on-field career.
Not only leading with his words, St. Brown is leading with his play as well. In the near future, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him evolve into one of the vocal leaders on the Lions as he continues to push through his first few seasons in the league.
NFL Stardom the Next Step for Amon-Ra St. Brown
Where does St. Brown go next? Likely, the hope for the Lions is that he becomes one of the top 10 players at his position in the league, and the roadmap toward that playing out could already be obvious.
St. Brown managed to get a call to the 2023 Pro Bowl as a result of his work on the field late this season. When he was at the skills competition, St. Brown made a big statement about his future by winning the catch competition with some fantastic plays in the finals.
First, St. Brown used a trampoline to flip himself into the air and make an incredibly acrobatic catch:
.@amonra_stbrown going ⬆️ for #BestCatch
📺: #ProBowlGames on ESPN
Then, in one of the most impressive moves around, the wideout vaulted over Detroit’s mascot Roary, grabbed a flipped pass mid-air from his brother Equanimeous St. Brown and somehow managed to hold onto the football to stick the landing.
We told you the St. Brown bros had something planned…
📺: #ProBowlGames on ESPN
With this performance during a big event such as the Pro Bowl during the first year of their revamped schedule of events, St. Brown sent a message that he should be thought of as one of the top players in the league at wideout.
Already, he has the statistics, and is starting to develop the big game cache to live up to this billing.
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