After catching one of a couple touchdowns from Jared Goff during seven-on-seven drills Friday, Amon-Ra St. Brown dropped to his stomach in the back of the end zone, paddled like he was on a surfboard, sprang to his feet and caught the wave. Then he shimmied for good measure.
"I was in the huddle, like, 'What am I gonna do?' because it’s a play where I might score. What am I gonna do if I score?" said the Sun God from SoCal. "And you know what, let me just bust out the: [insert shimmy]."
St. Brown is riding a wave of momentum entering his second season with the Lions. He broke franchise rookie records for receptions and yards last season and played like one of the best receivers in the game down the stretch. He finished with 90 catches for 912 yards and five touchdowns, not too shabby for a fourth-round pick.
Drafted 112th overall, St. Brown arrived in Detroit knowing the names of the 16 receivers drafted before him. He used it as motivation to outdo nearly all of them. Only sixth overall pick Jaylen Waddle topped him in catches. Only Waddle, fifth overall pick Ja’Marr Chase and 10th overall pick Devonta Smith topped him in yards.
"I had a chip on my shoulder coming into this league, and it’s not going nowhere for me," said St. Brown.
St. Brown also had this working in his favor: the element of surprise. He was an unheralded rookie playing on a bad team that couldn't pass the ball for the first half of the season. By the time the NFL learned his name, St. Brown had done his damage.
But the word is out. So is the tape. Opposing defenses will be ready for St. Brown this season, even as the Lions added more weapons around him. So how does he prepare for the league preparing for him?
"I mean, they still gotta stop it," said St. Brown. "Know what I mean? You still gotta stop it. And that's why we got Coach Johnson, he's going to put us in the right positions to make plays. That's why we have coaches. And at the end of the day, I do what I do and you still gotta stop it."
That would be Ben Johnson, new Lions offensive coordinator. He played a big part in St. Brown's rise last season when he was elevated to passing game coordinator halfway through the year, at the same time Dan Campbell took over play-calling. St. Brown racked up the second most catches and third most yards in the NFL over the final six weeks of the season.
That was due in part to the lack of talent around him. St. Brown was Jared Goff's only true weapon, especially after T.J. Hockenson went down for the season in early December. He got loads of targets and he made them count. With the additions of DJ Chark and, once he gets healthy, Jameson Williams, St. Brown likely won't see as many passes come his way.
"He’ll be steady and consistent," Campbell said Friday. "And whenever you need him, you know you got him and he’s going to make the plays for you. But even if he doesn't have that kind of production again, I’m hoping that’s because we’ve got people around him that are helping."
Then again, St. Brown might be poised to do more. He exploded last season without anyone other than Josh Reynolds stealing the defense's attention.
With Reynolds being joined on the outside by Chark and Williams, St. Brown should have more room to run in the slot.
"When you have guys like that who can stretch the field, everything underneath is much more open," he said. "Safeties are back-pedaling more, corners are running back."
Whenever that happens -- and even when it doesn't -- St. Brown can trust that Goff will get him the ball. Because Goff trusts that St. Brown, who had one drop all of last season, will catch it. Their chemistry is only growing. Goff said this week that the Lions are giving St. Brown more "leeway on decisions with his routes" in Johnson's offense. Basically, read the coverage and get open.
"A guy that we expect to be a big part of our offense," said Goff.
St. Brown wants to be better across the board this season. He wants to improve his run blocking and eliminate missed assignments. Most of all, he wants to hit the ground running. The numbers he put up at the end of last season, "I want that production starting right away," he said.
"Year 2, a lot of players say this is the year you get better," said St. Brown. "So I’m going into this season more confident, ready to go, knowing what to expect and ready to turn up even more."
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