Amon-Ra St. Brown entered the NFL in 2021 and wasted no time showing he was built differently.
In less than three seasons, the Detroit Lions playmaker has shown he’s arguably the league’s premier slot receiver. It’s to the point that Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and quarterback Jared Goff often choose to run their offense through St. Brown. Of course, they seldom miss a beat. St. Brown is so special that Goff compared him to a rather intriguing player:
Goff’s ex-Los Angeles Rams teammate and perhaps the greatest defender of all time, Aaron Donald. Uh, what?
In a new feature from ESPN’s Eric Woodyard, Goff explains why St. Brown reminds him of the future Rams Hall of Famer. Once you hear his logic, the comparison makes a lot more sense.
“Certain guys are different. And I [Goff] want to make a comparison, but I don’t want it to sound crazy, but the way that he is [St. Brown], in the weight room and on the field are very similar in my experience with Aaron Donald,” Lions quarterback Jared Goff told ESPN. “Like, it is business, business, business. He [St. Brown] works harder than everybody.
“Aaron’s [Donald] the hardest worker I’ve ever been around and Saint’s [St. Brown] right there with him just with the amount of time they put in and how serious they take it when they’re on the field. It’s a lot of fun to play with a guy like that.”
Honestly, I can see where Goff is coming from. St. Brown not only possesses the elite production of a difference-making superstar — he’s already caught nearly 250 passes in just 31 starts — but he clearly has the desire to be great and puts in the extra time necessary to push boundaries. If Goff says that St. Brown’s drive and play reminds him of Donald, arguably the finest overall player of his generation, then that speaks volumes.
It also says the Lions have found themselves an appropriate franchise player at receiver.