Five-star class of 2018 receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown publicly committed to USC on Saturday, while he was playing in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
5-star Amon-Ra St. Brown, maybe 2018’s best receiver, commits to USC
St. Brown is an incredible route-runner with hands.
It’s often bad to compare high school football players to NFL stars. Even when they’re exclusively used to help understand a college recruit’s playing style, saying a recruit “plays like Player X” can be unfair. But sometimes recruits are so good that it doesn’t feel wrong to compare them to Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr.
St. Brown is in that boat. The Anaheim product is the No. 2 receiver in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite. He’s got a strong case for No. 1, though LSU commit Terrace Marshall, Penn State commit Justin Shorter, and likely Oregon commit Devon Williams all have strong cases of their own.
St. Brown is a listed 5’11.5, without the height or frame that some receivers have. But like Brown, he’s an extraordinary route runner, who can take a few steps off the line of scrimmage and decimate a cornerback into a pile of ash. And like Beckham and Brown both, he’s quick enough to turn a slant into a long touchdown or just beat a defense over the top, straight up. There’s no situation in which St. Brown isn’t great.
“I would just describe my game as tough like a bulldog, but at the same time finesse,” he told SB Nation early in 2017. “I mean, catch the ball, run after the catch, I can go up, get the ball. I mean, I can block hard. I would say all that together.”
St. Brown will be the third of his brothers to play major college football as a receiver. Middle brother Osiris just got to campus as a four-star recruit in the class of 2017, and oldest brother Equanimeous is already a star for Notre Dame. His competition is stiff, but Amon-Ra stands a great chance to be the best of all of them.
“The difference between me and Equanimeous, I mean, he’s more of a go-get-it type receiver,” Amon-Ra said. “Throw it up, he can go catch it. I think I’m more of a ‘catch a slant, take it 80 yards, a hitch, 80 yards, or I can even stretch the field and go deep. Those are the similarities, I think.”
