AMON-RA ST. BROWN

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA  

POSITION: WIDE RECEIVER

RECRUIT RATING: 5-STAR

SIZE: 6’1″ 195LBs

BMI: 26

BIRTHDATE: October 24, 1999 (21)

YEAR: Junior

CAREER STATS: 178 REC / 2,270 / 16 TDs / 12.8 AVG

2020 DOMINATOR RATING: 33.07%

2020 YARDS PER TEAM PASS ATTEMPT: 1.80

DROP %: 8.89% (4)

 

BACKGROUND 

Coming out of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, Amon-Ra St. Brown was rated as a 5-star and the second-best receiver in the 2018 recruit class according to 247Sports composite rankings.

As a junior, he produced 60 receptions for 1,229 yards and 21 touchdowns. He added another 20 touchdowns as a senior with 72 receptions for 1,320 yards regardless of missing a few games with a hand injury. St. Brown held 26 offers that included Alabama, Notre Dame, and Georgia.

His full name is Amon-Ra Julian Heru J. St. Brown. According to the USC Trojans team page, he is named after the Egyptian Sun God Amon-Ra and Sky God Heru. His mother Miriam is from Germany, and his father, John Brown, is a two-time Mr. Universe and had St. Brown lifting weights at the age of seven and benching 135 pounds at the age of eight, according to an article by Nathan Ackerman of dailytrojan.com.

St. Brown is fluent in both German and French. He holds dual citizenship in the United States and Germany and even took the SAT in English, French, and German. During his commitment to USC, he made the announcement in all three languages.

He has two other brothers that both play football. Equanimeous St. Brown currently plays for the Green Bay Packers, and Osiris St. Brown plays for Stanford. All three play the wide receiver position.

In his first year at USC, St. Brown had a breakout season as a freshman, accounting for 21% of the target share with 86, and had a massive performance against Texas with 167 receiving yards. He ended the season with 750 receiving yards and three touchdowns.

In this sophomore season, he exceeded the millennium mark in yards and added six touchdowns. He also saw his targets go up over 100 while competing with Michael Pittman, Tyler Vaughns, and Drake London for looks.

2020 was a strange year, but in six games, he posted over 100 yards in two games and didn’t have one game with less than 50 yards. The majority of his touchdowns came against Washington State, where he produced four in that one game. Regardless, he saw his career’s highest target share with 22% and showed he could be dominant out wide or in the slot.

STAR-RATING SCOUTING KEY

Lacks the ability to beat NFL competition with a backup talent and skillset

Below-average ability to beat NFL competition with backup talent and skillset

Average ability to compete against most NFL competition with a starter talent and skillset

Above-average ability to compete and win against most NFL competition with starter talent and skillset 

Rare ability to compete and win consistently against all NFL competition with starter talent and skillset 

 

IMPORTANT POSITIONAL FACTORS

ATHLETICISM

Off the snap, St. Brown shows good initial acceleration with solid lateral agility within his release. He’s able to shift his weight and cut fluidly. He displays very good change of direction on hitch routes. He takes minimal steps to brake and pivot, showing good body control and balance in his direction change. He can quickly turn to get upfield after the catch proving good initial acceleration into his stem at multiple levels. He’s explosive in and out of his breaks, not wasting any movement or speed in his cuts.

MENTAL PROCESSING

St. Brown understands how to navigate the coverage he is facing. He identifies the defender’s weakness to either sell the vertical route with his eyes and shoulders to break off his stem or quickly identify the soft spots in zone coverage to target an open catch point. He doesn’t sit in coverage waiting for the ball but shifts through the junk to find an opening for his QB to throw the ball. He does a solid job working back to the QB on change of direction routes. His route tree did not consist of comeback route options in 2020 based on film review.

PLAY SPEED

Long speed isn’t his calling card, but he provides enough initial quickness to stack defenders and holds his speed long enough to secure the catch in stride. He won’t break off many prominent plays that require him to outrun defenders but does offer quick decision-making that makes up for his lack of elite speed. His quick processing to identify his situation, create separation, and get to his top speed quickly will offer big chunk plays, whether out wide or in the slot.

COMPETITIVE TOUGHNESS

A competitor with or without the ball. At the catch point, St. Brown plays with good tenacity in contested situations. He may not provide an extensive catch radius but uses every ounce of his frame to box the defender out of the catch zone, making instinctive adjustments to meet the ball. He is a very good hands fighter through all levels of his route.  As a blocker, he’s as aggressive as they come. He leverages his momentum to drive defenders off their assignment and finishes the block through the whistle.

PLAY STRENGTH

Functional strength allows Brown to win in contested situations against defenders with tools that are inferior to him. He displayed solid play strength throughout his route stem to fight off impeding defenders. When facing functionally stronger competition, he may have difficultly beating the jam and making tough traffic catches.

The 2021 Devy Watch Guide is now available. This guide is the one document you need to power your Devy taxi squads and college fantasy football teams. The 2021 Devy Watch provides over 270 of the top QBs, RBs, WRs, and TEs in college football. It also includes:

• Superflex overall and tiered rankings 
• Market Share leaders
• Dominator Rating leaders
• Breakout Age leaders
• Advanced positional stats

Get your copy today! 

POSITION SPECIFICS

RELEASE

Using a variety of release moves, St. Brown is highly effective against man coverage. He has comfortably relied upon strategic use of foot fire and stemming to beat the defender in the first five yards. When facing five-yard off-coverage, St. Brown uses short strides to close space and then performs a single or double move to separate himself. He also performs an effective chop and wipe to relinquish the defender’s attempt at using their hands. When facing starter-level NFL competition, he will need to use his hands more often and become comfortable with being aggressive in the first five-yards.

SEPARATION QUICKNESS

Jab steps and eyes to sell vertical allow St. Brown to create separation within his route breaks. He maintains squared shoulders in his vertical stem, offering the defender little options to believe he will change course. He keeps his eyes downfield, influencing the defender’s hips to lock, allowing St. Brown to shift his weight for a subtle change of direction. He is more finesse than strength when it comes to creating space against hip-to-hip defenders. He is also not shy to use his hands to fight through contact and create separation with twitchy arm movement.

HANDS

There is a sense of confidence with St. Brown as a natural hands catcher. He is guilty of a few concentration drops, one bad one against Arizona State wide open, but the drops seem like isolated incidences. Whether he is in stride extending to the ball, climbing the ladder, or making adjustments to erratic throws, St. Brown frames his hands to the ball to secure the catch. He identifies the catch point quickly and positions himself to meet the ball’s trajectory with excellent hand-eye coordination. Whether in traffic or open, St. Brown is a reliable pass catcher with only 13 drops out of his 246 targets in his collegiate career.

YARDS AFTER THE CATCH (YAC)

As discussed, St. Brown doesn’t possess the elite long speed to beat defenders for big plays downfield. He does play with toughness and uses every bit of his functional strength to gain additional yards after contact. St. Brown is elusive within his body mechanics to evade tackle attempts, but this season his routes didn’t provide much opportunity for him to gain more yards. There were timing issues with quarterback Kedon Slovis and St. Brown as out routes, and short passes seemed late, allowing defenders to close in quickly. St. Brown would secure the catch and promptly aim for additional yards regardless of imminent contact. He only gained 163 yards after the catch in 2020, but the fact is, he is capable of more which can be uncorked in the NFL with a scheme that fits his strengths.

STAR PROJECTION 

– Day 1 Projection

– Day 2 Projection

– Early Day 3 Projection 

–  Late Day 3 Projection

– UDFA

AMON-RA ST. BROWN DRAFT PROJECTION

As an NFL prospect, St. Brown can thrive in a west coast offense on short to intermediate passes. USC played him out wide strictly on the left side where he ran go routes consistently, proving to have the experience playing against man and zone coverages often and succeeding. He also played in the slot, finding success on hitch and out routes. His ability to see the field and recognize how to defeat his opponent upon the release will provide early success on a depleted NFL depth chart. He currently projects as a mid to late second-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. St. Brown will offer PPR value and be relied upon as a weekly consistent fantasy producer as a WR2.