Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports

Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown holding grudges for being overlooked in NFL draft

Amon-Ra St. Brown looks like a budding superstar for the Detroit Lions. Detroit drafted him with the 112th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft (round four), and he went on to have an impressive rookie season.

St. Brown caught 90 of the 119 targets that were thrown his way as a rookie, good for a 75.6% catch percentage. He had 912 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 10.6 yards per catch. 

The good news for the Lions is that the young wideout from USC is already proving in 2022 that his rookie season was not a fluke. He caught eight passes for 64 yards and a touchdown in Week 1's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, following that up with a dominant nine catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns in Detroit's Week 2 win over the Washington Commanders.

That's tremendous production from a player taken outside of the top 100 of his draft class and St. Brown has been using all players that went before him in 2021 as motivation to continue dominating.

In fact, Washington had a wideout taken before St. Brown in 2021 on its sideline, and don't think the rising star didn't notice his production compared to that player's, or lack thereof.

“The draft, it is what it is,” St. Brown told the media, per Pride of Detroit's Jeremy Reisman. “Even the Commanders, they got a guy before me over there. I believe his name is Dyami Brown. I don’t know how many catches he had. You guys can probably tell me that. Or how many yards he had. I don’t forget things like that. I see him across the sideline from where I’m standing during the game, and I’m going to give every team hell.”

Was St. Brown actually watching Brown on the other sideline?

"I didn't see him in the game much," the wideout said.

In total, 16 wide receivers were taken ahead of St. Brown in the 2021 draft: Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals), Jaylen Waddle (Dolphins), DeVonta Smith (Eagles), Kadarius Toney (Giants), Rashod Bateman (Ravens), Elijah Moore (Jets), Rondale Moore (Cardinals), D’Wayne Eskridge (Seahawks), Tutu Atwell (Rams), Terrace Marshall Jr. (Panthers), Josh Palmer (Chargers), Dyami Brown (Commanders), Amari Rodgers (Packers), Nico Collins (Texans), Anthony Schwartz (Browns) and Dez Fitzpatrick (Titans).

All but the Bengals and Dolphins would likely trade for St. Brown right now in a heartbeat.

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