Amon-Ra St. Brown explains what led to him falling to day three in 2021 NFL Draft

Fresh off the Detroit Lions' best season in decades, perennial Pro Bowl wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is living large, now that he is a First-Team All-Pro. This was what we all should have expected from him coming out of USC. I mean, he was a two-time First-Team All-Pac-12 performer playing for Clay Helton. Yet somehow, someway, he fell to the Lions in the fourth round only three springs ago...

While speaking to Sterling Holmes of Stacking the Box, St. Brown reflected on his draft-day experience and how utterly miserable it was for him. St. Brown should have a better time this year with the NFL Draft being held in Detroit. The Lions are serious Super Bowl contenders, the Tigers are playing well and Michigan just won the College Football Playoff. So much has changed over the last three years for Michiganders.

Holmes outlined that St. Brown was originally supposed to go in the first round, but fell to the fourth.

"I would say during or before the draft, I probably knew I wasn't going to go first round, just because of how everything went down," said St. Brown to Holmes on behalf of USAA. "You know, COVID, I only played six games. So it was kind of tough. I knew I wasn't going to go first round."

St. Brown continued to say that his draft experience was a terrible one, but not a truly unique one.

"I was expecting second or third round. So day two and you know, I ended up falling to day three. I would say my draft experience, I tell everyone, it was terrible. It was something I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy, the way that I felt, what I have to go through. I feel that's most people's draft experience."

He would then go on to say the NFL Draft is not all it is cracked up to be if you are not a top-10 pick.

"It's terrible if you're not a top-10 pick. Even if you're pick No. 18, you're in that green room, waiting a pretty long time. If you're at home, you're waiting a pretty long time. So, it's not what everyone thinks it is if you're not going top 10."

Finally, he did finish up answering Holmes' question by saying how great it feels to still be drafted.

"But at the end of the day, you do get drafted, if you do get drafted, it's a great feeling to have a team call, you pick up the phone, get to talk to the head coach, the GM, whoever it is, the owner, and to have a team want you. It's a great feeling to have as a player. You work so long, so hard for this for your entire life to finally be able to get drafted. It's an indescribable feeling."

St. Brown went to the right situation for him in Detroit, but there is so much more to unpack with this.

Amon-Ra St. Brown explains why he fell to the fourth round back in 2021

There are going to be so many case studies on sports played during the height of COVID during 2020. It impacted everything, and I don't say that lightly. USC may have been on the downtick under Helton during St. Brown's last year in college, but the Pac-12 didn't do the league any favors. They kind of, sort of tried to have a season. This resulted in a six-game season no one paid attention to.

Had St. Brown been afforded a full 12-game regular season, he may have been a first-round pick like his former USC teammate Drake London was a year later in 2022. The Trojans were terrible during London's last year in college, but he still went No. 8 to the Atlanta Falcons. Like St. Brown, he is one of the best up-and-coming wide receivers in the NFC. The talent was always there with these wideouts.

In a way, St. Brown's NFL pedigree may have hurt him in some capacity. His older brother Equanimeous St. Brown was not this type of player coming out of Notre Dame a few years earlier. He didn't get dinged as much as Derek Carr did when compared to his older brother David Carr, but NFL lineage doesn't always work in a prospect's favor. It didn't help that Helton's teams underperformed.

Finally, COVID did a number on playing evaluation, both coming out of college and coming out of high school. It was like football went back into the dark ages with so little information readily available. This has contributed to great college players like St. Brown being hidden gems in their drafts, as well as so many former five-stars failing to make a difference, in the college game and at the professional level.

Overall, you have to give Lions general manager Brad Holmes for kicking so much tail in his first draft leading the Detroit front office. He ended up picking a ton of great players for them, such as offensive tackle Penei Sewell, cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu, linebacker Derrick Barnes and St. Brown, none of whom were easy selections to make. Holmes did his homework, and Detroit reaped all the benefits.

In the past, blaming COVID for things that didn't go your way never sat well with me. However, a few years removed from the strangest part of our lives, I have come to realize that so much got lost in that chaotic time. If St. Brown were coming out now, oh, he would be a first-round pick like many of the guys he mentioned later in his conversation with Sterling Holmes. He would be a top-16 lock for sure.

Now that he has gotten the bag from the Lions ahead of his free agency, next up would be Jared Goff.

Amon-Ra St. Brown spoke to FanSided on behalf of USAA. The official NFL Salute to Service partner will kick off celebrations by hosting a special Salute to Serve event for local military from Selfridge Air National Guard base, featuring a private lunch and meet-and-greet with the Detroit First-Team All-Pro wide receiver.