Before the 2026 NFL season started, plenty of people predicted that Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs would win the offensive player of the year award. He opened as the betting favorite for it. Two weeks into the season, they may have the right team and the wrong player, because Amon-Ra St. Brown is the Lion building the case.
Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is producing at a level that cannot be ignored. Through two games he has caught 19 passes for 209 yards and four touchdowns on 27 targets, averaging 11.0 yards per reception.
Amon-Ra St. Brown Is Already In The NFL Record Book
Tim Twentyman of detroitlions.com laid out the history St. Brown has already made in the first two weeks of the season. He wrote:
“The veteran Lions wide receiver leads the NFL in receptions (19), is fourth in receiving yards (209) and is tied with Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the NFL lead with four receiving touchdowns. St. Brown joined Andre Rison (1994) as the only players in NFL history to produce at least nine receptions and two-or-more receiving touchdowns in each of the first two games of any season.”
That is the kind of history he was closing in on earlier this month, and he has now caught it.
St. Brown will look to keep the offensive player of the year campaign going on Sunday, Sept. 27, when the New York Jets visit Ford Field at 1 p.m. ET. There is no doubt that he is going to get the ball once again for the Lions.
Competing With Jaxon Smith-Njigba
St. Brown is going to be in a season-long battle with Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba for best offensive player in the NFL. In two games with Seattle, he has caught 17 passes for 277 yards and four touchdowns on 22 targets, averaging 16.3 yards per reception.
That leaves him tied for third in the NFL this season for receptions, and Smith-Njigba has a chance to have another big game on Sunday on the road against the Washington Commanders. He won the offensive player of the year award last season, and there is a real chance he could win it for the second consecutive year. There is also a real chance that he and St. Brown of Detroit are neck-and-neck all season long in that race.
