Who is Amon-Ra St. Brown? Lions fourth-round pick has impressed at OTAs
Amon-Ra St. Brown was one of the top recruits in the country in 2018. St. Brown played high school football at Mater Dei High School and achieved a five-star rating.
Amon-Ra St. Brown played for three different football programs in high school. St. Brown caught 154 passes for 2,922 receiving yards and 44 touchdowns in high school. At the time, 247Sports had Amon-Ra St. Brown as the second-ranked wide receiver, the second-ranked player in California, and the tenth-ranked player in the country.
Amon-Ra St. Brown was selected to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, highlighting the nation's top high school athletes. St. Brown also made the Opening Finals and played with talents like Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Micah Parsons, Patrick Surtain II and Asante Samuel Jr.
St. Brown subsequently made the decision to stay close to home in Anaheim, California. On the back of this decision, the former Mater Dei standout committed to the University of Southern California. Amon-Ra picked USC over the likes of Michigan, Notre Dame, Alabama and Arizona State.
The former five-star recruit shined with the USC Trojans starting with his freshman season. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught 178 passes for 2,270 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns for the Trojans. He also led the Pac-12 in receptions and touchdowns in 2020.
St. Brown went into the 2021 NFL Draft as the 53rd-ranked overall draft prospect and the ninth-best wide receiver prospect. The Detroit Lions drafted Amon-Ra St. Brown with their 112th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2021 draft.
The former Mater Dei and USC standout received an NFL draft grade of 6.21, which labeled him as a starter within his first two years in the NFL. Amon-Ra St. Brown went into the Lions' OTAs with a chip on his shoulder and has seemingly proven his worth as way better than a fourth-round selection.
How did Amon-Ra St. Brown impress at the Detroit Lions OTAs?
Detroit Lions senior writer Tim Twentyman reported that the Lions are planning on using Amon-Ra St. Brown in multiple ways on offense. Twentyman said that the Lions lined St. Brown up in the slot, out wide, and he even saw action returning punts.
When first-year head coach Dan Campbell was asked about his first impression of Amon-Ra St. Brown at his first OTAs, Campbell had this to say about the rookie.
"For a rookie, he's all business, and you can tell he's very focused. He's very detailed oriented for a rookie. He listens to what receivers coach Antwaan Randle El is telling him. I feel like he knows the playbook pretty good to this point, and there are just things about him, and you see it and your like, 'Okay, there again, he's a football player."
Could we see Amon-Ra St. Brown move into the top-three receiving options for Jared Goff? Campbell couldn't express enough how much St. Brown impressed the coaching staff at the Lions OTAs. What does this mean for his position on the depth chart?
Can Amon-Ra St. Brown go from fourth-round pick to top-three receiver for the Lions?
As things stand, Amon-Ra St. Brown is the fourth wide receiver on the Detroit Lions depth chart. He's right behind Quintez Cephus, but the gap between the two may not be much.
St. Brown is heading into training camp with a lot to prove and has the potential to leave training camp as the number three receiver, considering the Lions are thin at receiver when it comes to talent. Amon-Ra St. Brown and the Detroit Lions may have struck gold with their fourth-round selection of the former USC wideout.