Lions’ WR Amon-Ra St. Brown nominated for Pepsi Rookie of the Week 13

Following a career day, Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has been nominated for the NFL’s Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week 13.

St. Brown finished last Sunday’s game with 10 receptions on 12 targets, registering 86 yards and a walk-off touchdown reception—the first touchdown of his career. This was a career-high day in receptions (up from the seven catches the last time the Lions played the Vikings) and reception yardage (up from 70 yards at Chicago in Week 4).

Per the post-game press release from the Lions' PR department, St. Brown “is the first Lions rookie wide receiver to score a walk-off touchdown since the merger. His 10 receptions tie for the second-most a Lions rookie has posted in a game and tie for the most by a Lions rookie wide receiver in a game, joining WR Jason Phillips, who did so on Dec. 17, 1989. He now has 49 receptions this season, the most a Lions rookie wide receiver has posted through the first 12 games of his career.”

In previous weeks, Lions coaches have said they wanted to get St. Brown more involved in games and Sunday was the fruition of that.

“I’ll be honest with you, we have a lot of trust in him,” coach Dan Campbell said in his post-game presser about St. Brown. “We have for a while, it’s just trying to get him the football here a little bit and staying on the field ... He’s one of those guys who has become pretty dependable for us.”

In fact, St. Brown has become so dependable, that a few weeks back, the Lions designated him as the primary read on the gotta-have-it, game-winning play they utilized on Sunday.

“A few weeks ago, we actually switched it and put St. Brown as that guy that’s going to catch that ball in the game-winning situation,” quarterback Jared Goff said after the win. “Sure enough, it showed up.”

The future looks bright for St. Brown. Last Sunday, St. Brown not only led the team’s receivers in production, but he also led them in snaps, playing on 96 percent of offensive plays. He saw 45 snaps from the slot, as well as 22 snaps on the outside, suggesting he has earned the team’s WR1 spot and appears poised to keep this role moving forward.

“He’s a stud,” Goff continued. “A lot of confidence. He’s a stud and will be a stud for as long as he wants to be in this league. He’s been on our mind and I’m sure (head coach) Dan (Campbell) would say too of like trying to get him the ball for the last probably six weeks now. I think today it showed up. It’s just trying to get him involved and give him the ball in space and what he can do with the ball, I’m sure he jumped over somebody on the sidelines earlier on in the game. He’s a freak and can do some things.”

Be sure to VOTE for St. Brown in the NFL’s Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week 13 poll here. You can refresh and vote as many times as you’d like.