Will Amon-Ra St. Brown Be A Top-5 Fantasy Wide Receiver In 2023? Fantasy Football Outlook

Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has proven his doubters wrong year after year.

After falling to the Lions in the fourth round, St. Brown made other teams wish they'd taken him in the first. He caught 90 passes for 912 yards and five touchdowns in his rookie season.

Before the 2022 season began, fantasy doubters suggested ARSB would have a sophomore slump. He did not. Now he's established himself as a top-tier wide receiver, but is he a top-five wide receiver?

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Will Amon-Ra St. Brown Be A Top-5 Fantasy WR in 2023?

In his second season, Amon-Ra St. Brown increased his catch total by 16 and increased his yardage by 249, while adding one more receiving touchdown. ARSB did score one rushing touchdown as a rookie, a feat he did not repeat, but he still had nine carries for 95 rushing yards. If he keeps up his role as an occasional ball carrier, that adds about 0.5 fantasy points per game over the course of a season.

Johnston was considered the WR1 on some draft boards and WR2 on others. He's a dynamite playmaker who excels at defeating zone coverage but needs to work on beating press coverage. At 6′3” and with a 40.5-inch vertical jump, he should be able to get above defenders and come down with contested catches.

From Week 10 through Week 15, St. Brown caught six or more passes for seven straight games. As a rookie, he caught eight or more passes for the final six games of the season, tying a record held by Antonio Brown and Michael Thomas.

Some thought the 2022 addition of Jameson Williams would hurt ARSB, but Williams missed a lot of time with injuries and did not play as well as the Sun God when he was healthy. This season, Williams will miss the start of the season after having been suspended for gambling.

When Should Fantasy Players Draft Amon-Ra St. Brown?

St. Brown is going as the WR9 in fantasy drafts at ESPN and Yahoo. He finished as the WR9 last season and had three weeks as a top-five receiver. It's a bit rich drafting him ahead of Davante Adams (on Yahoo), who is a better wide receiver by any measure and had a much better fantasy season last year, but that reflects questions about Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo more than anything about Adams.

It wouldn't be a complete shock if ARSB did finish among the top-5 wide receivers, but it's not the most likely outcome. Justin Jefferson, Ja'Marr Chase, Tyreek Hill, and Cooper Kupp would be pretty difficult to dislodge from WR1 contention if they play.

Kupp and Chase both finished behind ARSB last season due to injuries. Garrett Wilson is also considered a contender for top-5 WR by some. Legal troubles could hurt Tyreek Hill, which would help put ARSB closer to WR1 status.

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