The Detroit Lions have done a nice job to draft and develop talent the last few years, and their work could be showing itself most with Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Detroit’s second-year wideout has taken a major step forward with a pair of big performances this season one of which was historic, and as a result, he’s starting to get on radars in a huge way across the league.
Heavy.com NFL insider Matt Lombardo was watching closely on Sunday, September 18. What he saw from St. Brown left him excited enough to label the wideout as a breakout star of the day.
As he wrote, St. Brown’s big performance puts him firmly on NFL radars as a major weapon.
“St. Brown, whose first name means “Sun God,” is a household name in the making. Sunday’s performance was a major step in that direction for the versatile second-year receiver. Against the Commanders, St. Brown did a bit of everything catching a game-high 9-of-12 targets for 116 yards with 2 touchdowns and adding a game-high 68 rushing yards. St. Brown can do it all, and he just might be the future of the Lions’ offense,” Lombardo wrote.
It’s true that St. Brown could be the future of the Detroit offense. The Lions have given him a chance to showcase his talents in plenty of ways and he has run with it. The more he can do, the better St. Brown will be in terms of making a name for himself.
Already, St. Brown as a star is one of the prevailing opinions of former NFL players like Golden Tate, who shared that opinion after Week 2.
For the Lions, this is great news. St. Brown becoming a star will be a big boost to their roster as well as their resurgent offense.
St. Brown Made Huge Plays for Lions
It was a big day for St. Brown, and it started quickly during the afternoon. Early in the first half, he big play for the Detroit offense, catching a pass to get the team going and get the Lions in the end zone.
Here’s a look at the play:
.@amonra_stbrown going 🆙
#WASvsDET | 📺 FOX
It wasn’t just that play for St. Brown, however. He caught a touchdown later in the fourth quarter to help pad the Detroit lead a bit further.
.@amonra_stbrown is him!
#WASvsDET | 📺 FOX
In addition to these plays, St. Brown busted loose for a 58 yard run which was also very impressive.
As a whole, this was a definite coming out party for St. Brown in terms of becoming an NFL star. It’s not hard to see how this analysis about his future could be spot-on in terms of accuracy given all he can do.
St. Brown Comfortable Within Lions’ New Offense
What has led to St. Brown’s status and what could lead to him rising even more in the coming weeks? A solid offense which he feels very comfortable in due to coaching.
After the game, St. Brown was asked about the Detroit offense by the media, and as he said, he feels comfortable with it given the work of Ben Johnson, the team’s new play caller. He sung the praises of Johnson for what he’s been able to do with the team.
“He knows everything. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve been around. I love Coach Johnson.”
“I keep telling everyone, I think he’s one of the best coaches I’ve been around. He has that young mind. He’s open to new ideas. He puts all of us in the right position to make plays. He knows our strengths, he knows our weaknesses. He knows what the quarterback likes. He knows everything. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve been around,” St. Brown said. “I love coach Johnson. Once he kind of took over halfway through the (2021) season, that’s when I started getting more targets and things started taking off for me, so I lobe coach. I love what he’s doing for us as an offense. He’s putting us in the right position to make plays and we’re going out there and executing.”
The more exposure St. Brown gets, the harder it will be to ignore him as a star in the league. Clearly, Johnson and the Lions offense plans on getting him exposed in a bigger way in the future.
For these reasons, Lombardo is likely spot-on to label St. Brown a breakout star. It will be fascinating to see how far that star can climb in the coming weeks and months.
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Amon-Ra St. Brown Earns New NFL ‘Breakout Star’ Label From Insider