Amon-Ra St. Brown Claims 2021 Draft Class Is Holmes' Best

Lions WR is looking forward to a great matchup with 49ers.

Being doubted and underappreciated is nothing new for Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.

The 2021 fourth-round pick was famously passed up 111 times before Detroit general manager Brad Holmes took him with pick No. 112. St. Brown hasn’t forgotten that one bit, and quite notably can recite the names of each of the 16 receivers that were selected before him in that year’s draft.

He’s had to prove himself every step of the way in his pro career, and it’s fueled him as he’s grown into one of the best wideouts in the NFL today.

Just as the third-year receiver has been undervalued, he’s seen the same thing happen to fellow Lions players. St. Brown believes the team’s recent winning ways, though, have started to change the narrative for him and his teammates.

“Yeah, I think we’re definitely in a smaller market, compared to some other teams. But, we really just started winning, towards the back-half of last year, going into this year. I think the more you win, the more people pay attention, the more primetime games you get, the more people watch you play. That all adds up,” St. Brown told reporters Thursday. “So, I think winning cures everything. If we can keep winning, we’ll have more eyes on us, and people will start to realize the type of talent you have. Any winning team has good players. That’s why they’re winning. So, we definitely have a lot of good players on this team, but like I said, we’ve got to keep winning and keep proving that. And, I think the rest of that stuff will come.”

Red Wings Fans Chant 'Jared Goff'

St. Brown has also heard plenty of chatter about how the Lions are the weakest link of the four remaining playoff teams. And some pundits have gone so far as to say that Detroit doesn’t belong on the same playing field as its NFC Championship Game foe, the San Francisco 49ers.

St. Brown couldn’t care less about all that outside noise, though, because he knows that he and his teammates have “earned” the right to play the 49ers.

“Shoot, we earned it. First of all, we earned the right to be here,” the third-year pro commented. “We won the games that we had to. We won all year, we won the division. We’ve had a few home playoff games. But, I think, you know, record is one reason why you get here and winning in the playoffs obviously. But, I feel like we’ve done it all year. We’ve been pretty consistent, you know, we’ve dropped a few games, lost a few by a lot, lost a few close ones. But, for the most part, we’re pretty consistent. But, I feel like once you get in the playoffs, the regular season doesn’t matter, anyone can beat you. And, that’s how we’ve kind of approached it.

“It’s kind of like a new season in these playoffs, one game at a time. And, that’s kind of the mentality we’ve had the whole time. I mean, two good teams, both teams have been pretty good the whole year. And, it’s finally time for us to play against each other, and I think it’s going to be a great matchup.”

As St. Brown has continued to rack up gaudy numbers, including back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns, the accolades, to no surprise, have started to come in more frequently.

Most notably, he earned a first-team All-Pro selection for his efforts in 2023. And so did his 2021 draft class counterpart Penei Sewell, Detroit’s first-round pick (No. 7 overall) in that year’s draft.

Holmes has received praise for his strong draft hauls since joining the organization in 2021. And, to St. Brown, there’s been no better draft class assembled by the third-year GM than the ‘21 one.

“I’ve definitely gotta go with our draft class,” St. Brown said, when asked about what Holmes draft class has been the best. “I might be a little biased, but shoot, me, Penei (Sewell), Alim (McNeill), Derrick Barnes, game-winning pick last game. Shoot, who’s else in our class, Levi (Onwuzurike), ‘Iffy’ (Ifeatu Melifonwu) ballin’. We’ve got guys in our class, granted, there’s definitely guys in the other classes, too. But, I’m gonna be biased and say mine. But, shoot, he’s put together a great group the last three years. It’s a testament to his hard work and everyone up there. But, definitely gotta go my class.”

St. Brown defends pocket-passer Jared Goff

This season, Jared Goff has led the Lions to a division championship, two consecutive playoff wins and now an appearance in the NFC Championship Game for just the second time in franchise history. Yet, he still gets criticized for what he can’t do, such as being able to make plays with his legs.

Goff’s lack of mobility, however, hasn’t taken away from his overall effectiveness. Over the past two years with Detroit, the veteran signal-caller has been a very productive pocket passer.

St. Brown echoed that very same sentiment about his quarterback Thursday.

“You know, I don’t think Jared can’t run,” St. Brown said. “His legs still work, but he prefers to throw it if he can and get rid of it. But, yeah, you might say he’s not as mobile as some of the other quarterbacks in the league, but you look at what he’s done this year, the past few years, I mean, he’s been one of the best quarterbacks in the league statistically the past two years. This year, he’s been great all year. I think he does a great job of when things aren’t there, he gets to his check-down reads quick, he gets rid of it. He makes some smart decisions, whereas maybe some more mobile quarterbacks run for the first or try to make something happen.

“He (Goff) knows what he’s capable of doing. I mean, he does a great job of getting rid of the ball, throwing it away when he needs to and definitely he makes a case for quarterbacks like him that can still make plays. I mean, look at how far we’ve gotten now with a quarterback like that.”