OFFICIAL: Dan Campbell Lions host claims Amon-Ra St. Brown is ahead of Justin Jefferson base on….
At this stage of his career, Amon-Ra St. Brown is further along than this Justin Jefferson, whom you all like and revere.”
Peak ‘offseason takes’ season is among us before the NFL offseason has even formally started.
On Monday, Neal Ruhl of Woodward Sports Network offered a sharp analysis, stating that at this stage of his career, Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is “far ahead of almost any wide receiver ever,” including Justin Jefferson.
At this stage of his career, Amon-Ra St. Brown is far superior to practically every other wide receiver in history. Ever,” Ruhl remarked. “Justin Jefferson, the man you all like and revere, is further advanced in his career right now. Examine the figures.”
For the uninitiated, Woodward Sports Network is a digital sports media brand covering Detroit sports. They have 94,000 followers on X and 62,000 subscribers on YouTube.
It’s, uh, not even close. Jefferson had 1,237 more yards than St. Brown at the conclusion of their respective third seasons. Jefferson’s 96.5 yards per game is far superior to St. Brown’s 73.2 per game.
In fact Jefferson broke records for his first three seasons. Records that belonged to Odell Beckham Jr. and Randy Moss. Jefferson’s 324 receptions, 4,825 yards and 96.5 yards per game are the most in NFL history by anyone over the first three seasons of their career.
Now that we’ve established that the baseline stats aren’t close, what about the awards? Jefferson was a three-time Pro Bowler and earned one first team All-Pro honor and two second team All-Pro honors. St. Brown has two Pro Bowl invites and one first team All-Pro.
Again, not close – and we didn’t even mention Jefferson’s Offensive Player of the Year award after his third season – a season in which he was also a finalist for the league MVP trophy.
Ruhl continued when his co-host tried to push back against the hot take.
Amon-Ra St. Brown gets overlooked because he doesn’t catch the 60-yard deep ball,” Ruhl lobbied. “That’s why. That’s the only reason why. It’s not that he’s an inferior receiver. He is not. It’s the nature of his game and the nature of what he’s asked to do in the offense. And he does it as good as anybody in the National Football League. I’ll back that up. Could Justin Jefferson do Amon-Ra St. Brown’s role as well as Amon-Ra St. Brown?”
Let’s investigate and compare their numbers after three seasons in the league.
