Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown entered the NFL with a chip on his shoulder. The Lions selected him in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, No. 112 overall out of USC and he has quickly turned into a star at the position.
He has turned into a go-to weapon for Jared Goff, capable of making plays all over the field. Any knocks against him that led to his slip in the draft have been put to bed as slowing him down is a near impossibility for defenses.
While he doesn’t possess the intimidating size or otherworldly athleticism of other standout receivers, St. Brown gets the job done. Through 33 career games, he has caught 196 of his 265 targets for 2,073 yards and 11 touchdowns. He is putting himself in line for a huge contract from the Lions, emerging as their No. 1 receiver.
Heading into Year 3, there are some expectations for St. Brown and his teammates. The Lions are a popular pick to make the postseason and have an incredible foundation in place to build upon.
How will they remain motivated? For St. Brown, it will be easy. When the Lions were on Hard Knocks last year, he listed the 16 wide receivers that were selected ahead of him in the 2021 NFL Draft by memory. He used that as motivation at the time and continues to draw inspiration from being overlooked so many times in the draft.
“I actually still think about it,” the wideout admitted on Monday’s NFL Total Access with Mike Yam. “I actually have my goals written down in my notebook. What I want to achieve every year. So, what I want to achieve this year going into the season, my personal goals, and then right below that I have the 16 receivers written down, where they went to college right below that. And so, I read that whole list three times before I go to practice every day. It’s something I’ll never forget. Something I make sure I’m always reminded of.”
The 2021 draft included stars Ja’Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals and Jaylen Waddle of the Miami Dolphins. But even they cannot touch St. Brown’s stats, whose 196 receptions are tied for the most in the first two seasons of a career with Justin Jefferson and Michael Thomas.
Motivation certainly isn’t lacking for St. Brown as he is ready to continue playing at a high level in 2023. In addition to his personal achievements, helping the Lions to the postseason for the first time since the 2016 season would be a nice cherry on top of his third season in the NFL.
