Amon-Ra St. Brown: Adding DeAndre Hopkins Helps Any Team

Amon-Ra St. Brown speaks with NFL Network after minicamp practice.

With each passing day, the preseason hype surrounding the Detroit Lions continues to grow.

It’s been evident for media members inside the Lions’ Allen Park practice facility during both OTAs and mandatory minicamp so far. And, it’s been even more apparent for the players when they leave the facility and visit local establishments.

Just ask Detroit third-year receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.

"I would definitely say more outside the building than inside,” St. Brown told the NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano and Steve Wyche, when talking about the offseason buzz regarding Detroit. “Inside the building, it’s a lot of the same guys, we’ve got some new faces here. But, definitely when you leave the facility, whether you're at the grocery store, going out to restaurants, whatever, and a fan sees you, they’re super excited. They can’t wait. They always tell us, you know, how excited they are for the season.”

The Lions have emerged as a favorite to win the NFC North division, and St. Brown’s impact on Detroit’s offense is certainly a reason why.

St. Brown, a 2021 fourth-round draft pick of the Lions, has amassed at least 90 receptions, 900 yards and five receiving touchdowns through each of his first two seasons in the league. Additionally, he’s coming off a highly impressive 2022 campaign, in which he recorded north of 100 catches (106) and 1,000-plus receiving yards (1,161) for the first time in his career. It was good enough to earn the USC product a trip to the Pro Bowl.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown :: © Junfu Han/Detroit Free Press / USA TODAY NETWORK

With St. Brown’s help, the Lions finished fifth in scoring a season ago, with 26.6 points per game. The California native believes that Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson deserves a great deal of credit for the team’s success on offense last season.

“I think, just the guys we have in this room. You go from the quarterback down, our O-line, our running backs, our wideouts, our tight ends. We’ve got great coaches surrounding us, and the head man of it all, Ben Johnson, puts us in great position to make plays, week in and week out,” St. Brown expressed, when commenting on the team’s offensive success in 2022. “So, you know, if we execute, like he (Johnson) tells us, we’re bound to succeed on Sunday. So, just the whole operation around us, we’re surrounded by great people, great players, great coaches. And, you know, we all want to be the best.”

Detroit’s offense is already in a good state headed into the 2023 season. However, could the Lions be interested in taking their offense from good to great by adding a certain three-time All-Pro receiver?

That receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, was recently released by the Arizona Cardinals, and there’s been a fair amount of speculation that Detroit could be in the market for the veteran wideout.

St. Brown addressed the rumor during his conversation with Siciliano and Wyche.

“Obviously, when you talk about an All-Pro player, he’s obviously going to help any team he joins,” St. Brown said. “But, the guys we have now in this room, I feel like, we all do things differently, we all do things really well. Like you said, Josh Reynolds, Kalif Raymond, me, Marvin Jones, who we added, we’ve got some young guys, some rookies. We’ve got a lot of guys that do things well, on our team right now. But, like you said, adding a guy like that, he’s going to help any team.”