Jared Goff: Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown ‘As Good of a Player as I’ve Played With’

Now in his 10th NFL season, Jared Goff has played with many talented teammates, but there’s a certain receiver in Detroit he puts at the top of the list.

The Lions quarterback told Mark Sanchez on FOX Sports’ “Rearview” that Amon-Ra St. Brown is “as good of a player as I’ve played with.”

“He’s unbelievable, man. He really is,” Goff told Sanchez of St. Brown. “I think you could talk about him as one of the best players in the entire league right now, with all he does, obviously catching the ball and scoring and whatnot. But blocking — there isn’t a receiver that blocks better than him, and there certainly isn’t a receiver that’s going to catch 100-plus balls that blocks better than him.”

Goff’s assertion that St. Brown ranks among the league’s best players isn’t really debatable. Now in his fifth season, St. Brown has finished in the top 10 in receptions more than he hasn’t. In each of the past two seasons, he finished top-five in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. In terms of blocking, that’s hard to quantify for a receiver. St. Brown, however, earned a solid 76.2 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus last season.

What might be a bit more debatable is that St. Brown is as good as any player that Goff has played with. Remember, during his time with the Rams, Goff played with arguably the greatest defensive player this century. Aaron Donald is one of only three players to win three Defensive Player of the Year Awards. Goff was also teammates with running back Todd Gurley when he won Offensive Player of the Year in 2017. And the year after the Rams traded Goff, his former teammate Cooper Kupp was the 2021 Offensive Player of the Year.

Jared Goff and Cooper Kupp formed a strong connection during their four seasons together in Los Angeles. (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)

But St. Brown is making a case to join that group of players, if he hasn’t already. He had another standout performance in the Lions’ 52-21 victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 2, recording nine receptions for 115 yards and three touchdowns. With the three TDs, St. Brown is the league’s early leader in receiving touchdowns this season.

Following one of those three scores, St. Brown got creative with his celebration. He faked a hamstring injury, going to the turf as he ran toward the QB.

Goff claimed that he knew St. Brown was faking, saying that the wide receiver’s celebrations are “so planned out” and “calculated.” However, Goff has been amazed by St. Brown’s celebration skills.

“I don’t get how these guys find the end-zone camera,” Goff said. “To have the presence of mind to not only score and do your job right, and then be like, ‘OK, where’s the camera?’ That’s insane to me. If I ever get into the end zone, which is maybe once or twice a year, I’m just trying to get back to the sideline. Like, ‘Holy smokes, I just scored.’

“These guys, they score so much. Him, [Jahmyr] Gibbs and [David] Montgomery, it’s all planned out. It’s all ready to go, and it’s pretty fun.”

For as hard as St. Brown works at his celebrations, though, he works even harder on the practice field, according to Goff. That has helped him become one of the league’s best receivers after being a fourth-round pick.

“You can’t ask for much more in a player,” Goff said. “For me to be able to have him as a young guy and see him grow into what he’s become, it’s just been so fun, and we’ve got such a great connection now.

“It’s hopefully continuing to grow and only the beginning for us.”

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