Notes: Amon-Ra St. Brown finishes season as top-5 PFF graded WR

PFF writers are high on the Sun God.

While some may have their eyes trained forward, the 2023 Detroit Lions season was so good it’s worth another look back.

Over at Pro Football Focus, Gordon McGuinness put together a list of the top wide receivers by overall PFF grade. Star Lions wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown came in at fourth with a 91.2 grade.

“Only one wide receiver in the NFL saw more targets than St. Brown’s 190 in the regular season and playoffs, with the star receiver averaging 12.7 yards per reception despite his average depth of target being just 8.0 yards. That was boosted by his ability to make people miss in space, forcing 21 missed tackles on 141 receptions across 19 games,” McGuinness writes.

Well known for being an absolute steal in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, St. Brown is now eligible for a contract extension and likely to make quite the chunk of change — understandably so.

In case just like the Sun God and receivers taken before him in the draft, you want to know who came before him in this list — Miami’s Tyreek Hill at 93.4, San Francisco’s Brandon Aiyuk at 91.5, and Houston’s Nico Collins (91.4).

And onto the rest of your notes.

• More season highlights to keep us going through the offseason.

• If you’re interested in rankings, in CBS Sports Pete Prisco’s list of top 100 free agents, Jonah Jackson came in at No. 42, while you’ll see CJGJ at 86.

• “The Lions’ starting guards are scheduled to reach free agency this offseason, and this feels like Dan Campbell’s type of player.” See who NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah thinks may be a perfect fit for the Lions at No. 29.

• Colton Pouncy and Nick Baumgardner offer their own picks in a back-and-forth discussion over on The Athletic. ($)

• Dan Campbell’s comment about how C.J. Gardner Johnson healed so fast from his pectoral injury that he’s got “mutant genes” inspired him to release a new song under his rap name SOG Ceedy. A to Z Sports’ Mike Payton has that story.

• Speaking of music, Lions DJ Djrayyadig created a playlist to help celebrate Black History month.

• Lions Wire’s Jeff Risdon teamed up with Ourlads Scouting to break down the Lions’ top 5 offseason needs.