Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown snubbed from top 5 in highly respected annual ranking

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown nearly cracked the top five in ESPN's annual positional rankings, and quite honestly, he should have.

The rankings are based on the opinions of NFL scouts, executives and coaches, and St. Brown ended up at No. 6 on the list, which is one spot higher than where he was ranked in 2024, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

While he just missed the top five, St. Brown did receive a ranking as high as No. 3 from one of the voters.

"He doesn't have the size but he has these high-level traits: Feet, hands, instincts, run-after-catch, competitive toughness," an executive said.

"Has elite football instincts for the position," one coordinator said. "Understands how to attack leverage. Runs hard every play. Plays inside and outside. Makes all the tough catches on high-leverage downs. Blocks, plays physical. The only thing he doesn't do is win outside the red line [close to the sideline], but that's not how the game works anyways."

Ranked ahead of St. Brown, from No. 1 to No. 5, were Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, CeeDee Lamb and A.J. Brown.

One can definitely make an argument for St. Brown to be in the top five over guys like Tyreek Hill and A.J. Brown, both of whom had down years in 2024. Meanwhile, St. Brown continued to produce at an elite level.

His 1,515 yards and 10 receiving scores in 2023 ranked third and tied for fourth, respectively, and he was top five in both categories in 2024 after finishing with 1,263 yards (fifth) and 12 touchdowns (third).

St. Brown, who also finished third and second in receptions in 2023 and 2024, respectively, was the only Lions wideout to make the top 10, but fellow wide receiver Jameson Williams did receive at least one top-10 vote following his breakout campaign in 2024 that led to 1,001 yards and seven scores.

If Williams can build on that, the Lions could have two receivers in the top 10 in 2026.