Grading Amon-Ra St. Brown's Rookie Season

As a rookie, it was a tale of two seasons for Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.

There was the first part of the season where former Detroit offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn was calling the plays, and then there was the latter part of the season when Lions head coach Dan Campbell called them.

While Lynn was calling the plays (up until Nov. 14), St. Brown caught 27 passes on 38 targets.

When Campbell took over the play-calling duties, St. Brown got a lot more involved, catching 63 passes on 81 targets.

St. Brown went from looking like a run-of-the-mill fourth-rounder under Lynn’s direction, to looking like the steal of the draft with Campbell calling the shots.

In the end, St. Brown was the No. 24 most targeted wide receiver in the NFL in 2021, on his way to breaking the club record for receiving yards by a rookie.

While catching 90 passes (119 targets) for 912 yards and five touchdowns, St. Brown became one of the few bright spots on an otherwise bleak 3-13-1 team.

Why did the Lions get so much more production out of St. Brown with Campbell calling the plays instead of Lynn?

It started a few weeks prior to St. Brown’s final six games of the season, which is when his production exploded.

It started in the wake of Detroit getting blown out by Philadelphia, 44-6, on Halloween.

There were no tricks or treats for the Lions' offense against the Eagles, and it caused Campbell to give more thought to featuring St. Brown more actively in the offense.

“I think we need to look long and hard at St. Brown,” Campbell told reporters. “There, for example, are three things that we can use him, that we can do that really will help him help us? Maybe that’s the best way to put it. We have to start looking at some of these guys.”

The decision was made to move St. Brown around more and also run him out of the backfield occasionally. This helped to increase his versatility and his role, in what was an overall conservative offense.

#14 Amon-Ra St. Brown - 6-foot-0, 197 pounds

2021 game film reviewed: (10/17) CIN, (12/5) MIN and (12/26) ATL

Grade: B

Scouting Report

Scrappy and competitive possession receiver, who showed he can create enough separation at the short-to-intermediate route levels (10.1 avg. and long of 37 yards). Ideally, a jack-of-all-trades slot receiver, which is where most of his production came from in the shorter range. More quick than fast. Showed average hip flexibility to change direction. Able to compensate by setting up defensive backs quickly, with short-area acceleration to create some needed separation. Showed strong and confident hands to pluck the ball. Secure and dependable catcher who did little-to-nothing after receptions a vast amount of the time. Generally either tackled right away or looked to go out of bounds way too easily. Struggles to maintain body control near sidelines.

When running intermediate routes, he drove hard off the line, and glided smoothly while moving downfield. Looked graceful running. Had some get-up-and-go. Excels over the middle and working the sidelines at the short- to-intermediate route levels. Excels over the middle, as well as on shallow crossing and out routes where defenses are willing to concede. Excels at intermediate skinny posts and out routes. Did not see him test defenses deep.

Able to take a handoff out of the backfield or run a jet sweep for shorter gains. Aggressively and consistently got after run blocks. More than willing to stick his nose in there. One of the better blocking receivers in the league. Solid and productive rookie season, and did everything he was asked to do.

There is no question St. Brown exceeded expectations as a fourth-round draft pick.

There is also no question Campbell took it upon himself to establish St. Brown as a big part of this offense’s identity in 2021.