Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is now the Lions' all-time leader in rookie receiving yards.
St. Brown secured the record with a 17-yard reception in the first quarter against the Green Bay Packers.
The 22-year-old passed Roy Williams, who previously held the record with 817 receiving yards set back in 2004.
Is is important to note St. Brown had the opportunity in 2021 to play one extra game, as the league implemented a change to increase the number of games played in the regular season from 16 to 17.
“When you’re a rookie, you’re swimming. You come in, you’re just trying to find your place, much less be the player that you are. I don’t want to say guys like Saint are rare, but they’re damn near rare for the fact that you can come in and get your feet under you and be able to get your confidence and your skillset to a certain level to be very competitive by the end of your first year. That doesn’t always happen. It takes a minute and I think that’s the norm," head coach Dan Campbell said.
In order for the Lions to take the next step forward in their rebuilding process, several of their young and talented rookies will have to continue to progress in their sophomore campaigns.
There is typically no bigger jump a rookie can make in the National Football League than the gains made going from year one to year two.
Campbell explained, "Once you come back and everything that you’ve learned and processed and now you understand, ‘Man, I know what we’re doing when we come in the spring. I know what time the team meeting is. I know how these O and D meetings are going. I know how the special teams are going to go. I know how the practice is going to be laid out."
For Detroit, one of the few silver linings this season has been the vast opportunities several young players on the roster have had to earn meaningful playing time.
The hope will be players like St. Brown and right tackle Penei Sewell become cornerstone pieces of Detroit's offense for years to come.
"Not every team has been able to do what we’ve been able to do, which is play as many young guys as we have, our draft picks, our rookie free agents, our second-year players," Campbell said. "It’s kind of worked out that way, just the nature of how the roster was built, but also the injuries, it’s some of the COVID stuff. And so, that’s actually been a silver lining. We’ve banked some valuable reps for these guys.”
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