I like Amon-Ra St. Brown. He’s just a fourth-round pick and is playing for what should be one of the worst teams in the league, but I think he’s got a good chance to be Detroit’s leading receiver.
The Lions don’t have much else at wide receiver. Tyrell Williams and Breshad Perriman are their highest-profile veteran receives, but I don’t think either would be a starter on most NFL teams.
St. Brown doesn’t have eye-poping size or speed, but he was very productive at Southern Cal. He caught 77 passes for 1,042 yards and 6 TDs as a sophomore. He played in only six games last year but caught 41 passes for 478 yards and 7 TDs. There were five wide receivers drafted in the first round, but I think there’s a decent chance he’ll catch more passes than most of those guys. And I would expect he’ll catch more balls than all five of the wide receivers picked in the second round.
At the same time, I will concede that it’s rare for a wide receiver chosen in the fourth round to make much of an impact as a rookie. In the last 20 years, only 11 wide receivers picked after the third round have finished with top-50 PPR numbers in their first year. Another 10 have finished with top-60 stats.
(Four of those wide receivers weren’t drafted at all, and they’re tagged with black dots.)
I like St. Brown as a late-round gamble.
| LESS-HERALDED ROOKIE WIDE RECEIVERS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2010 | Mike Williams, T.B. (4) | 65 | 964 | 14.8 | 11 | 227.4 | 16 |
| 2006 | Marques Colston, N.O. (7) | 70 | 1,038 | 14.8 | 8 | 221.8 | 16 |
| 2016 | Tyreek Hill, K.C. (5) | 61 | 593 | 9.7 | 12 | 219.0 | 18 |
| 2019 | Darius Slayton, NYG (5) | 48 | 740 | 15.4 | 8 | 170.0 | 37 |
| 2009 | Austin Collie, Ind. (4) | 60 | 676 | 11.3 | 7 | 169.7 | 29 |
| 2014 | • Allen Hurns, Jac. (FA) | 51 | 677 | 13.3 | 6 | 154.7 | 49 |
| 2011 | • Doug Baldwin, Sea. (FA) | 51 | 788 | 15.5 | 4 | 153.6 | 42 |
| 2020 | Darnell Mooney, Chi. (5) | 61 | 631 | 10.3 | 4 | 152.1 | 50 |
| 2015 | Stefon Diggs, Min. (5) | 52 | 720 | 13.9 | 4 | 149.3 | 47 |
| 2013 | • Marlon Brown, Balt. (FA) | 49 | 524 | 10.7 | 7 | 145.2 | 48 |
| 2011 | Denarius Moore, Oak. (5) | 33 | 618 | 18.7 | 6 | 136.9 | 51 |
| 2020 | Gabriel Davis, Buff. (4) | 35 | 599 | 17.1 | 7 | 136.9 | 57 |
| 2015 | Jamison Crowder, Was. (4) | 59 | 604 | 10.2 | 2 | 135.6 | 51 |
| 2017 | • Keelan Cole, Jac. (FA) | 42 | 748 | 17.8 | 3 | 134.8 | 48 |
| 2018 | Antonio Callaway, Cle. (4) | 43 | 586 | 13.6 | 5 | 134.3 | 54 |
| 2009 | Johnny Knox, Chi. (5) | 45 | 527 | 11.7 | 6 | 133.7 | 51 |
| 2019 | Hunter Renfrow, Oak. (5) | 49 | 605 | 12.4 | 4 | 133.5 | 55 |
| 2012 | Chris Givens, St.L. (4) | 42 | 698 | 16.6 | 3 | 133.0 | 57 |
| 2010 | Jacoby Ford, Oak. (4) | 25 | 470 | 18.8 | 7 | 129.5 | 56 |
| 2013 | Kenny Stills, N.O. (5) | 32 | 641 | 20.0 | 5 | 127.1 | 56 |
| 2016 | Malcolm Mitchell, N.E. (4) | 32 | 401 | 12.5 | 4 | 96.1 | 50 |
—Ian Allan