Philadelphia Eagles: Amon-Ra St. Brown is 2021’s JuJu Smith-Schuster

In a weird twist of fate, the Philadelphia Eagles almost walked away from the initial wave of NFL free agency with dynamic wide receiver/avid Twitcher(?) JuJu Smith-Schuster… maybe.

After officially announcing the 24-year-old’s intentions to return to Pittsburgh on a one-year deal worth $8 million, Adam Schefter threw the entire fanbase into a tizzy by suggesting that Smith-Schuster was actually offered a long-term deal from a “secret suitor,” your friendly neighborhood Philadelphia Eagles, but turned it down for a prove-it offer sans incentives from Pennsylvania’s other football franchise.

Now this tweet, understandably, drew many a confused reaction by anyone familiar with the Eagles’ current situation, as they’ve been incredibly stingy in free agency thus far due to a lack of available funds and perceived external interest, but what happened next took things to a whole, ‘nother, level.

Fast forward a whopping 12 minutes into the future, and Schefter struck again, this time dropping a clarification on the Eagels’ interest due to a presumed hounding by Philly confused by his presumed mic drop, a tweet you should probably just read yourself and try to comprehend.

So… it was Smith-Schuster’s camp who reached out, and the Eagles said no…? Hmm… okay.

Now, on paper, I can see why JJSS’s camp would find the Eagles’ current situation intriguing. The Eagles receiving corps is projected to almost exclusively be made up of receivers with three or fewer years of experience. Even if the team is able to land a true number one like Ja’marr Chase, or instead attempt to secure the next Darren Waller in Kyle Pitts, there are still 100-plus targets available to a receiver like Smith-Schuster, who likes to operate out of the slot and keep the chains moving across the middle of the field.

But hey, don’t get too down on losing out on JuJu Smith-Schuster, Philadelphia Eagles fans, as there’s another USC-product who could fill a similar role in Nick Sirianni’s offense, and all he’ll cost to acquire is a Day 2 draft pick: Amon-Ra St. Brown.

The Philadelphia Eagles really don’t have a player like Amon-Ra St. Brown.

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Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of the more interesting players in the 2021 NFL Draft class.

His father is a former two-time Mr. Universe, his mother exclusively speaks to him in her native German, and he potentially could have been a soccer star had he opted to focus on the sport as a youngster following being noticed by the German national team on a trip to the country.

But for St. Brown, going into football practically ran in the family.

A member of “College Football’s Version of the Ball Family,” St. Brown’s oldest brother, Equanimeous, is a former sixth-round pick out of Notre Dame, and his middle brother, Osiris, currently plays wide receiver for the Stanford Cardinals and is expected to return to Palo Alto for the 2021 college football season.

But neither of his brothers present the same dynamic, game-changing style of play that Amon-Ra has brought to USC over his three year-tenure in Los Angeles and will surely transplant to some wide receiver-needy NFL team roughly one month from now.

That, my friends, is almost a guarantee.

Measuring in at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, St. Brown is a pro-style receiver who would look perfectly at place lining up in a trio set alongside current San Francisco 49ers receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk. He’s a great route runner, a willing run blocker, and the sort of player who operates best when given the space to turn “garbage into gold.”

While St. Brown did struggle ever so slightly during his junior season largely lined up on the outside, St. Brown’s sophomore season as a predominantly slot-only receiver highlighted a player with a good feel for the game; one who knew how to operate against man versus zone coverage, how to juke out would-be tacklers in the open field, and most importantly of all, how to position his body for maximum efficiency in the red zone.

Not bad, right?

Now sure, there are some teams who probably won’t be as high on St. Brown as others. He’s not a particularly explosive receiver and would be lucky to crack into the mid-4.4s at USC’s pro day on March 24th. If a team’s prototype of a slot receiver is a player like Tyreek Hill or a hybrid player like Curtis Samuel, that probably isn’t an ideal landing spot for the youngest St. Brown brother.

However, for teams who value consistent catchers of the football with below-average drop rates (8.9) and a willingness to duke it out in the middle of the field, there is a lot to like about Amon-Ra, even after this junior season limited his perceived ceiling as an outside option.

Hm… a surehanded, 6-foot-1 wide receiver who projects as a solid run blocker? Who does that sound like a prototypical slot receiver for?

The Philadelphia Eagles

the Indianapolis Colts… but also the Philadelphia Eagles, considering human ball of energy Nick Sirianni will surely be transplanting much of Frank Reich’s offense to his new home.

Though St. Brown probably won’t receive as many snaps on the outside as his former Trajan’s teammate Michael Pittman regardless of where he ends up at the pro-level, it’s not hard to see Sirianni using St. Brown in a similar way to Zach Pascal both in the passing game and as a run blocker.

Even if the Eagles opt to retain Greg Ward on a long-term contract, there’s a very good chance St. Brown could develop into a solid number two receiver if paired up with a true number one option and may one day find himself with a 1,000-yard season a la JuJu Smith-Schuster during his statistically anomalous sophomore season paired up with Antonio Brown.

Considering the closest the Eagles have gotten to a 1,000-yard receiver in recent memory is Jordan Matthews all the way back in 2015, passing up a scheme-fit wide receiver because you already have another slot receiver signed to a contract would be incredibly short-sighted.

Round: 3

Pro Comp: JuJu Smith-Schuster sans Twitch.

Whether Howie Roseman opts to address their dire pass-catching need with a prototypical X receiver (Ja’marr Chase), a dynamic flanker (Devonta Smith), or even a hybrid slot/tight end (Kyle Pitts), there is unquestionably a spot on the team next year for a wide receiver like Amon-Ra St. Brown on the Philadelphia Eagles both in 2021 and moving forward. He’s got light feet, good instincts, and route running well beyond his years, and those elements of his game should translate to the NFL if deployed correctly without issue. For a team like the Eagles, who have historically found success building their passing attack around targeting high-volume interior receiving options, St. Brown could help to pick up where the old guard like Jordan Matthews and Zach Ertz left off.