Amon-Ra St. Brown Not Yet Considered Top 5 NFL Wideout

What NFL world is saying about Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14) / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was ranked as the No. 7 wide receiver in the NFL, according to ESPN's annual positional rankings. Last year, the the former USC Trojans product was an honorable mention.

Ranked ahead of the 2021 fourth-round pick were A.J. Brown, Davante Adams, CeeDee Lamb, Ja'Marr Chase, Tyreek Hill and Justin Jefferson.

Only Chase has secured more receiving yards than St. Brown, whose play in the first three seasons of his career earned him a four-year, $120 million extension this offseason.

"Has elite football instincts for the position," an NFL coordinator told ESPN. "Understands how to attack leverage. Runs hard every play. Plays inside and outside. Makes all the tough catches on high-leverage downs. Blocks, plays physical. The only thing he doesn't do is win outside the red line [close to the sideline], but that's not how the game works anyway."

The 24-year-old was recently featured in Netflix's "Receiver" docuseries that highlighted his toughness displayed throughout the 2023 season.

"He's really tough," an NFC offensive coach said. "You know where the ball is going on third down and he's usually coming up with it."

One NFC executive also expressed, "That scheme and what offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has done makes him look really good. Not taking anything away from him, but he's more dependent on the scheme than some of the other receivers on this list."

Additional reading

1.) Training Camp Preview: Gibbs Looks to Be Multi-Level Threat

2.) 5 Burning Questions Facing Lions Ahead of Training Camp

3.) Former Lions WR Signs With Texans

4.) Opinion: Lions Do Not Need Brandon Aiyuk