Packers: Equanimeous St. Brown has to cash in on his roster spot

Packers WR Equanimeous St. Brown has to make the most of his roster spot.

Following his best game of the season, Green Bay Packers WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling has been placed on injured reserve due to a hamstring injury. This means that MVS will be out for a minimum for three weeks, which means a spot in the 53-man roster has been opened for at least those three weeks.

The spot was nearly immediately taken by the Packers’ sixth-round pick in 2018, WR Equanimeous St. Brown. St Brown’s first three seasons with the Packers were underwhelming, but it wasn’t necessarily to the fault of the former Notre Dame WR1. St. Brown had an above average rookie year, hauling in 21 receptions for 328 yards. A key number that stood out to me was that 13 out of those 21 catches went for a first down.

After his rookie year, St. Brown would unfortunately suffer a high-ankle sprain injury in a 2019 preseason game against the Raiders. He would go on injured reserve only six days later, therefore ending his 2019 campaign.

The injury would have a serious ripple effect on St. Brown’s career, as he would go on to only play in 12 games the following year and only start in one of them. St. Brown’s 2020 campaign would be significantly worse than his 2018 season, as he only recorded seven catches for 117 yards.

On August 31 this year, EQ was a part of the final roster cuts, but was signed to the Packers’ practice squad the next day. St. Brown was elevated to the main roster for the Week 2 outing against the Detroit Lions, but only pulled in one catch that didn’t register a single yard.

All of this to say, both St. Brown and the Packers have to make the most out of his temporary place on the 53-man roster. The Packers have been heavily reliant on Davante Adams, as he has 34 targets through three weeks – a stat that not only leads the NFL, but is more than double of any of the other Packers.

The previously mentioned Marquez Valdes-Scantling is second in the team in receptions and targets, but now that he’s on the shelf for a few weeks, this is the perfect opportunity (and potentially the last) for St. Brown to make his mark on a Packers roster.

On the flip side of the coin, I’d like to see Matt LaFleur and Co. try to implement him into the game plan more as well. St. Brown boasts an impressive frame being 6-5 and 214 pounds, as well as a decent 40-yard dash time of 4.48. St. Brown does have a few WRs ahead of him on the depth chart, including third-round rookie Amari Rodgers, but I can’t imagine a scenario where the two couldn’t share snaps.

In the grand scheme of things, there’s a huge hole in the Packers’ wide receiver room that is going to have to be filled for at least three weeks – if not longer. Aside from Valdes-Scantling and Adams, the team’s WRs aren’t producing anywhere near as much as they should – with the next leader in WR targets being Randall Cobb with only five.

If St. Brown doesn’t produce in the short window he has been afforded, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve seen the last of him in a green and gold uniform.