Ben Johnson: Amon-Ra St. Brown Is 'Ultimate Chess Piece'

Detroit Lions will look to use their talented wideout in a variety of ways.
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Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown wants to be part of more explosive plays in the offense moving forward. 

In 2022, only 13 passes tossed his way (8.9%) exceeded 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. 

In comparison, Detroit's talented wideout was targeted on 101 occasions (69.2%) with tosses that traveled less than 10 yards through the air. 

"It's definitely something I wish I did more. I don't really get the ball thrown to me too much down the field. So, I'm not getting some of these opportunities (that) some of the other players are getting. That's something I want to get more opportunities to do going forward, having the ball thrown down the field, and not just catching it after five yards and making guys miss," St. Brown told reporters late in the season. "I want to catch it 25, 30 yards down the field. You watch my tape this year, I really haven't had any of those. I haven't had anything over the shoulder, really."

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is aware of St. Brown's request, and has no issue finding even more ways to use one of the team's top offensive weapons. 

"Brad (Holmes) and Dan (Campbell) talk about it all the time. We just want the best football players that we can find," Johnson told the team's website. "And, that's what Amon-Ra is, he's a phenomenal football player. Take the receiver part out of it. He is just a natural football player, and we can't get enough of them. I mean, we want to line him up as the lead blocker. We want to line him up with the ball in his hands. We want to have him running all the routes, he can do all that."

St. Brown has demonstrated the capability of handling an increased workload. 

In fact, the 23-year-old receiver wants to continue to be used in the run game, plus wants targets on third down along with securing more deep balls. 

"He's an ultimate chess piece that is fun. And, we're going to continue to push the limits with him," Johnson expressed. "I think he's made it well known, he wants to get that deep ball going a little bit this year. So, we'll see what we can do." 


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John Maakaron
JOHN MAAKARON

John Maakaron has covered Detroit Sports since 2013. Brings a vast array of experience covering the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, Michigan Wolverines, Michigan State Spartans, Detroit Mercy Titans, and Oakland University Golden Grizzlies. John brings a wealth of sports broadcast experience. In 2013, John had the vision to establish the Detroit Sports Podcast Network. Has recorded over 3000 podcasts analyzing Detroit Sports. In 2019, Sports Illustrated Media Group, a historical sports media outlet, partnered with Detroit Sports Podcast to provide daily Lions content for their growing and expanding digital media outlet. Our Lions content can also be read in the newspaper at The Oakland  Passionate about Detroit Sports and it is reflected in his coverage of the local teams!