Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown quietly has become one of the best young receivers in the NFL. He intends to get even better.
As explained by Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, St. Brown intends to become more a deep threat in 2023.
Receivers coach Antwaan Randle El believes it can happen.
“He can get in and out of cuts so easily, like he doesn’t have to give all that extra stuff cause he can just get out of it so fast,” Randle El said recently, via Birkett. “So I just want [him] to just run that smooth route. Like, you don’t have to give any extra at the top of it, just, pop-pop, come on out of it and he’s been doing it in OTAs so that’s been a growth for him. So no extra movement, just get in the route, come out of it because he gets in the route so fast.”
Fast is the key word, if St. Brown wants to stretch the field. He has a career average of 10.6 yards per catch, a number that went up last year largely due to what he did after getting the ball. Becoming a deep threat is all about what happens before the player gets the ball. It’s about having the ability to get free at the line of the scrimmage and run past the corner, forcing help over the top and, in turn, opening up the rest of the offense.
St. Brown has already overachieved in three NFL seasons. But a 40-yard dash time of 4.61 seconds doesn’t scream out that he’s destined to become the deep threat he aspires to be.
Still, what he lacks in raw speed he can make up for with the kind of polish in his route-running and raw determination to get the ball once it’s in the air.
Anyone who has bet against St. Brown through two seasons has lost. It probably would be wise to not bet against him again.
Amon-Ra St. Brown hopes to become more of a deep threat in 2023 originally appeared on Pro Football Talk
..
