Player Bio:
St. Brown does not have the typical NFL prospect background. His father, John Brown, was a two-time Mr. Universe and three-time Mr. World as a weightlifter. His mother is from Germany. He lived in France for a short time as a youth and went to a French school while living in California. But it was St. Brown's game that really got him noticed as a recruit, as he earned a top 100 overall prospect rankings after excelling his final two years (74 catches, 1,210 yards, 10 touchdowns) at Servite High School in Anaheim. Equanimeous (a form of equanimity, meaning to stay calm and cool under pressure) played in seven games as a freshman (one catch, eight receiving yards, blocked punt against USC), missing the final four with a shoulder injury. He and Deshone Kizer formed an alliance in 2016, however, allowing him to use his tall frame, huge catching radius, and long strides to lead the Irish with 58 receptions, 961 yards, and nine receiving touchdowns. Notre Dame's passing game went south with Brandon Winbush leading the offense, so St. Brown's statistics dropped (33 catches, 515 yards, four touchdowns). After his brother, Amon-Ra, decided to attend USC instead of UND as a five-star receiver recruit, Equanimeous' road to the NFL was paved.
Analysis By Lance Zierlein NFL Analyst
Draft Projection: Rounds 3-4
NFL Comparison: Andre Holmes
Overview:
St. Brown's combination of size and speed will be coveted by offenses looking for a prospect who can create throwing windows down the field with his ability to separate as the route progresses. St. Brown's competitive nature needs to improve as does his play strength to elude early pressure from physical cornerbacks. He has never been a volume target and has just three 100-yard games in his career. At this stage, St. Brown is more of a threat than a weapon and his ceiling may be an average starter or WR3.Strengths:
- Tall target with long limbs
- Plays outside and from slot
- Early push into routes with quickness to decelerate and open and uncover on comebacks
- Effortless glider
- Much faster than he looks
- Easy maneuvering around route traffic
- Staccato footwork provides above average change of direction without slowing
- Has build-up speed to overtake cornerbacks as vertical route progresses to third level
- Willing to work over the middle
- Able to eliminate pursuit angles and hit big runs after catch on crossing routes
- Showed elevated concentration on tougher catches in 2016
- Good feel for use of length to overcome cornerbacks down the sideline
- Very few focus drops during his career
- Has speed to hit the chunk play
Weaknesses:
- Competitiveness feels optional for him at times
- Needs to play with more consistent urgency
- Struggles with physical cornerbacks
- Crowded and harassed by North Carolina's M.J.Stewart and finished with just one catch
- Routes and stems are rounded
- Needs to do better at disguising route breaks
- Doesn't create as much downfield separation as he could with better route leverage
- Doesn't extend to pluck and allows throws to get into him
- Hand strength is below average
- Has catches that turn into drops due to lack of hand strength through contact
- Body positioning and ball adjustments down the field are just OK
