Make no mistake, Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL -- and most of the league agrees. He was ranked seventh at his position by various execs, coaches and scouts in ESPN's annual countdown of the top 10 players at each position.
And even that might be dismissive of receiver who was tied for second in catches, third in yards and tied for fourth in touchdowns last season. The only players ranked ahead of St. Brown were Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, Ja'Marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb, Davante Adams and A.J. Brown.
As one NFL coordinator put it, St. Brown "has elite football instincts for the position. Understands how to attack leverage. Runs hard every play. Plays inside and outside. Makes all the tough catches on high-leverage downs."
But one NFC exec isn't entirely sold. Perhaps disappointed that his own team didn't steal a first-team All-Pro in the fourth round of the draft, the rival exec said that St. Brown is partly a product of Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. More fuel for a red-hot fire:
"That scheme and what 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."
For one, that's a coordinator's job: come up with a scheme that accentuates his players' strengths. For another, St. Brown would find a way to thrive in any scheme, wouldn't he? His route running is crisp, his hands are sharp and his athleticism remains underrated: he led the league last season in yards after catch. He also just doesn't take no for an answer.
"He's really tough," said a rival NFC coach. "You know where the ball is going on third down and he's usually coming up with it."
Indeed, St. Brown had the fourth highest catch rate in the NFL last season. And caught the third most first downs. According to Pro Football Focus, he had a receiving grade of 96.3 on deep passes, 99.3 on intermediate passes, 96.0 on short passes and 90.3 on passes behind the line of scrimmage. He excelled wherever the ball was thrown to him.
"The only thing he doesn't do is win outside the red line [close to the sideline]," said the opposing coordinator, "but that's not how the game works anyway."
Chalk it up to scheme, if you must. But given his knack for getting open, his toughness through traffic, his reliability at the catch point, his quickness with the ball and his general take-no-prisoners demeanor, few receivers feel more scheme-proof than St. Brown.
