Scouting the Roster: Equanimeous St. Brown

Player name:  Equanimeous St. Brown

Player position:  Wide receiver

Years left of eligibility:  2 years

Projected rank on depth chart:  Will definitely start

Player productivity so far:  2016 (12 starts):  58 receptions, 961 yards (16.6 ypc) 9 TDs

2015 (0 starts):  1 reception for 8 yards. 

What player does best:   St. Brown is very agile for a “tall” player.  He turns well left and right, which is unusual for a guy his size.  That allows him to be effective all over the field.  He can take a short pass and weave in and out of traffic for big gains, but also use his speed and size to be an effective vertical threat.  St. Brown is faster than most people realize, and I expect him to gain even more top end speed as he gets older and trains more.  He should be the No. 1 receiver in this offense and a difference maker for ND this season. 

What player needs to work on:  St. Brown is quite a talent.  He has the potential to be a great player.  He can use his body to shield defenders, and he can jump and turn his body well in the air.  But, he struggles with consistency.  He struggles in being consistent in route running.  He struggles in consistent effort, focus and attention to details when doing the little things.  He can also improve his blocking. 

He started the 2016 season well with 6 TDs in the first 5 games, but only managed 3 in his last 7 games. 

St. Brown needs to focus on consistency and playing hard every play and every rep.  Once he accomplishes that, he should reach his potential.  Notre Dame really needs him to step up and become a No. 1 receiver this season. 

Productivity of former Irish players and the top players in the country at player’s position:  I wanted to compare St. Brown to Michael Floyd at ND, but also some other top receivers around the country.  Anthony Miller played in the Chip Long offense last season and had a a fantastic year numbers-wise.  James Washington is widely considered to be one of the nation’s best receivers in a similar type of offense, and Mike Williams also played in a similar type of offense with good results. 

Michael Floyd 2010 season:  12 games.  79 receptions, 1025 yards, 12 TDs

Michael Floyd 2011 season:  13 games.  100 receptions, 1147 yard, 9 TDs

Anthony Miller  2016 (Memphis):  13 games.  95 receptions, 1434 yards, 14 TDs

James Washington 2016 (Ok St.) 13 games.  71 receptions, 1,380 yards, 10 TDs

Mike Williams 2016 (Clemson)  15 games, 98 receptions, 1361 yards, 11 TDs

What can we hope for?  As I said before, Notre Dame really needs St. Brown to become a dominant player.  He has the type of ability to become as good a player as Michael Floyd.  What he doesn’t have is Floyd’s work ethic, at least not yet.  St. Brown was banged up this spring, so I didn’t see the kind of advancement in his game I was hoping to see in those 15 practices.  He certainly made some plays when healthy, but he wasn’t as dominant as I was hoping to see.  Again, he was injured, so that likely had something to do with it. 

Ideally, you’d love to see St. Brown eclipse 80 catches and 1300 yards with 12-13 TDs.  I believe he has that kind of potential as a receiver in this offense.  But, with a new and inexperience quarterback, that may be a tall task. 

What is a realistic expectation?  I think “EQ” will log around 70 receptions on the year, and he’ll likely surpass the 1000-yard mark.  I think he’ll also catch around 10 TDs, which would be a very solid and respectable season.  Those numbers would be very similar to Michael Floyd’s junior season at Notre Dame, and they're not far off from the numbers he put up last season.  I do expect Brandon Wimbush to play at a high level, so I expect we will see St. Brown and a few others to have good receiving numbers this season. 

What about the future?  It will be very interesting to see what the California native does after this season.  He’ll have one season left, but with another good season in 2017, he will likely be a player who will draw a lot of NFL interest.  How high?  I think that depends on his season.  We’ve seen DaVaris Daniels opt early for the draft, and that didn’t work out too well for him. 

If he comes back, he’ll certainly be primed for another great senior season with Brandon Wimbush having a full year under his belt. 

Michael Floyd was a great receiver because he was such a physical presence, he ran great routes, had sure hands and a great work ethic.  St. Brown doesn’t possess any of these traits on Floyd’s level, currently, so he has a lot of room to grow.  But, I feel St. Brown is faster, more athletic, and taller. 

How good St. Brown ends up being will likely depend on how much improvement he makes in those areas I mentioned about.  I think he has first round potential if he can put it all together.