I listen to a lot of podcasts and read a lot of sports stuff for this job. Being in the know on what people are saying about the Detroit Lions is an important part of this gig. I've noticed one thing lately that I don't quite understand. 

Multiple outlets saying that they want to see one more year of Amon-Ra St. Brown to, I don't know, make sure it's real or something? I don't know what people are looking for out of this "one more year" that hasn't already been shown. Let's just come out and say it. Amon-Ra St. Brown is an elite receiver in the NFL. He just is. 

Today I want to talk about exactly why I think that. Let's jump right into it.

The stats

For the non analytics crowd, let's start here. Don't worry. We'll get to the analytics. The stats are simple though. St. Brown finished seventh in receptions and 11th in receiving yards. He is 24th in touchdowns, but I'm not going to hold that against him too much since the Lions were pretty much all about running the ball once they got into the red zone last year. 

To add onto this, St. Brown tied the NFL record for consecutive games with eight or more catches. He also has more receptions than any of the 16 rookies taken before him in the 2021 NFL Draft. 

He doesn't have the very best stats in the league. There are certainly guys ahead of him, but the argument isn't that he's the best in the league. It's that he's one of the best.

Analytics 

I told you we'd get to analytics. This is an area where St. Brown really shows how good he is. Pro Football Focus has been doing rankings lately where they rank the strength of receivers against certain defensive sets. St. Brown is all over these rankings. 

First off, there's man coverage. There is no receiver that grades out better than St. Brown against man coverage. St. Brown took home a 90.8 grade against man coverage. Seems elite to me. 

His grade against zone was a little lower. he had an 82.7 grade in that territory. That's good for ninth in the league against zone coverage.

In terms of a total grade, St. Brown graded out at 90.7. That's the second highest grade in the entire NFL. Only Tyreek Hill graded out higher. 

The work ethic

This is the biggest reason I'm comfortable with just throwing St. Brown into the elite category without having to wait another year. St. Brown has shown us nothing but drive since he got into the league. There's a reason why he can name the 16 receivers taken before him. He wants to beat them. He wants to be better than all of them. The man has a chip on his shoulder and plans on eating it. 

Plus, the work never stops for him. He's catching balls after practice on his Juggs machine every day. That's why he's one of the more sure handed receivers in the league right now. 

Does he have to more and continue to get better? Sure, you can always get better. I don't know if we've seen the best of St. Brown quite yet. If we have, this is pretty good. If we haven't the rest of the league better watch out. What I do know is that his work ethic will help him get to wherever he's going to wind up. 

Amon-Ra St. Brown named one of the biggest draft steals of the decade

What a steal

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