St. Brown scores twice in Week 1 win over Saints

St. Brown is dealing with what sounds like a minor ankle injury after Week 7’s win over the Packers. Campbell said he could likely be held out of practice on Wednesday before the team begins ramping him up on Thursday, but tempered any optimism by adding, “We’ll see when we get there.” The 4-2 Lions are playing host to the undefeated Vikings in a game that could end up deciding the winners of the NFC North later in the season. Unless this injury is more serious than Campbell is letting on, we would expect St. Brown to be on the field and operating as a high-end WR1.

The Sun God didn’t find the end zone in this one, but he did rip off multiple big gains, which included plays of 28 and 40 yards on the Lions’ first two drives — both of which ended with points. St. Brown’s 11 targets led all Lions’ pass-catchers in this one, and his 153 receiving yards are good for the fifth-most he has had in any game in his career. It’s the first time in his career that ARSB has gone for 140-plus yards but failed to score a touchdown, but this was easily one of his best games to date this season. St. Brown hasn’t scored since Week 3’s game against the Jets, but he has gone for 69 or more yards in each of his last three games while seeing 11 targets in every outing. He continues to be as steady a fantasy asset as there is at receiver, and will be in the WR1 mix in Week 8 against the Vikings.

Lions coach Dan Campbell tasked St. Brown with punt return duties (2/36) after Tom Kennedy got hurt. While St. Brown looked great weaving through traffic, his first return nearly ended in a lost fumble, but a teammate dove on the loose ball, bailing him out after it was punched out of St. Brown possession. St. Brown nearly had a 43-yard touchdown on a sideline play-action shot on the Lions’ seventh drive, but he couldn’t quite get his hands on it. He almost bagged short scores via out routes on the Lions’ eighth and ninth drives, but his coverage defender effectively challenged the pass on the first and the pass was just out of his reach on the second. He had a nice 36-yard catch-and-run on the eighth drive and nearly nabbed another explosive gain on the sixth drive, but Sam LaPorta accidentally knocked him down 11 yards downfield after St. Brown leapt over a downed Cardinals defender. He had another fumble recovered by a teammate after snagging a pass on a crosser. The Lions’ stud wide receiver will be an elite WR1 against the Packers following the Lions’ Week 6 bye.

It was quite the disappointing outing for the fantasy darling considering the Panthers were without their top two corners, with opposing defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero dialing up consistent pressure that caused quarterback Jared Goff fits throughout the evening. Two of Goff’s incompletions that were directed at St. Brown were batted down at the line of scrimmage, ultimately enough to keep St. Brown out of the end zone for the first time this season. St. Brown remains a top-tier WR1 ahead of a potential shootout against the Cardinals in Week 5.

St. Brown couldn’t get much going other than a handful of check-downs in this game, but he saved his fantasy backers with an end zone fade for six to close the first half. Despite the quiet showing, St. Brown still led the team in targets, tied with Jahmyr Gibbs at eight apiece. He’s now up to five touchdowns on the season. St. Brown isn’t quite in the WR1 overall mix right now, but he’s not far behind for his Week 4 matchup with Carolina.

St. Brown did not catch his first pass until six minutes left in the second quarter but was the primary cog of the offense after the break as the Lions worked to overcome multiple 17-point deficits. He found paint for the first time on the team’s first possession after the break before adding a second in the two-minute drill from 27 yards out. St. Brown now has 209 yards and four touchdowns on 19 receptions through two games an looks every bit of the elite WR1 fantasy managers invested a first-round pick into this offseason. Although volume through the air might be more difficult to come by in Week 3, St. Brown remains a top-tier WR1 when the Lions host the Jets in Detroit.

According to Over the Cap, the Lions created $35.68 million in cap space. Detroit is now second in the NFL in cap space with around $38 million, which can either be used this year or carry over to 2027. While a big in-season move could come closer to the trade deadline, Lions GM Brad Holmes recently reiterated the organization’s interest in giving contract extensions, which would begin in 2027, to TE Sam LaPorta and S Brian Branch.

The Lions are retaining “all” of last year’s play-calling verbiage, and “it was on Drew Petzing to learn the offense,” not the other way around. Goff apparently “had as much of a hand in getting Petzing familiar with the offense as the offensive staff did.” Mays believes these developments speak to the command, agency and autonomy that Goff possesses at this stage in his career. We agree. For those who were concerned about the Lions scrapping the tactics that coach Dan Campbell employed as the Lions’ play caller in Weeks 10-18 last year, it sounds like those concepts aren’t going anywhere. Will Petzing be allowed to add his own elements to that playbook? Yes, we assume so. At the end of the day, this year’s offense could look a lot like last year’s fantasy-friendly unit, though. Draft accordingly.

This will be the sixth regular season NFL game played in Germany as part of the league’s international series. It will feature Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, a German-American and the centerpiece of the Detroit offense. Last year St. Brown was fifth in receiving yards and fourth in wideout receptions. The Lions will be looking to bounce back from a relatively disappointing 2025 campaign after losing OC Ben Johnson to the Bears.

St. Brown made good on a lofty draft ADP entering the 2025 regular season, finishing as the overall WR4 in both total PPR points and points per game, behind only Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Ja’Marr Chase. He brought one of the most consistent weekly floors while also contributing three games of 29.9 PPR points or more, peaking with a 41.4-point eruption in the first week of fantasy playoffs in Week 15. St. Brown amassed a sparkling 1,401 yards on 117 receptions while adding 11 touchdowns, marking the third consecutive season with at least 1,263 yards and 10 scores. Continue treating St. Brown as a locked-in WR1 ahead of his sixth professional season.