Rookie Spotlight: Amon-Ra St. Brown, USC
Height: 5’11 1/2″
Weight: 197
Hands: 9 1/8″
Arm: 30 3/8″
40 yard dash: 4.64
NFL Comparison: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Golden Tate, Robert Woods

Pros
– good hand/eye coordination
– adjusts well to poorly thrown balls
– moves well laterally
– quick out of breaks
– 38.5” leaping ability
– comes down with contested catches
– good blocker for his size
– alpha competitor
– physical specimen, terrific pedigree
– great explosive testing at pro day

Cons
– some concentrations drops
– lacks elite speed
– slower 40 than expected

Scouting Notes: With a name just as original as his brother Equanimeous’, Amon-Ra St. Brown brings a similar grind and confidence to his game. Four inches shorter and twenty pounds lighter than his sibling, Amon-Ra has to make up for his lack of imposing frame by ramping up his tenacity and high pointing the ball whenever possible. He’s not a track-star, quick-twitch guy, but he has 38.5” leaping ability so he can go up and get it from most corners. He also jumped 10’7″ in the broad at his pro day while pushing out 20 reps on the bench press. He has strength and explosiveness to his game and skill-set that, in some ways, counteract his lack of elite top-end speed. His burst out of breaks and ability to stop-and-start with great change-of-direction is reminiscent of fellow former Trojan JuJu Smith-Schuster. It also helps that he tracks the ball in the air extremely well and adjusts to poorly thrown balls without much effort. Along with adept elite hand/eye coordination, St. Brown brings his cerebral nature to his route running. He ran a comprehensive route tree at USC, where he was able to create separation through shifty footwork and varying tempos. He doesn’t possess elite long speed, but he’s got good short area burst and he plays bigger than he is – St. Brown is an alpha competitor on all levels of the field. He brings that dog to his blocking too, where he uses leverage and aggression to upend his defenders. St. Brown can use some work on his concentration drops, but he generally has sticky enough hands and catches the ball away from his body.

Fantasy Outlook: St. Brown projects to play out of the slot in the NFL, and that’s a position he thrived from in college. He scored 7 and 6 TDs out of the slot in 2020 and 2019, when he wasn’t even the primary ball-catcher for much of the time. I see him going somewhere in the third round to a team that needs a chain mover who can be a reliable target underneath in the red-zone – He would actually make a nice fit in Green Bay along with his brother. In any case, St. Brown doesn’t need a whole lot of coaching up to be NFL ready – He’s not a raw prospect, and he’s got sharp football intelligence. In dynasty, feel comfortable taking him as a player who could be a 2nd or 3rd receiving option on his eventual NFL team with TD upside. In 1QB rookie drafts, the beginning of the second round is a good area to begin targeting ARSB until we know where he’ll be playing professionally.