Army Bowl: Five-star WR Amon-Ra St. Brown chooses USC

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is always filled with exciting commitments. While the Early Signing Period has tamped down some of the drama, it was still a thrilling day of pledges with five-star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown being the highest-rated prospect to come off the board.

Rivals.com takes a look at St. Brown’s decision to commit to USC over Notre Dame and Stanford and what it means moving forward.

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Throughout his recruitment, St. Brown seemed like someone who was going to be deliberate and patient with the process and he never seriously considered committing during the early period. USC, Stanford and Notre Dame had always been among the favorites with Michigan, Ohio State and UCLA staying on the list as well.

His brothers, Equanimeous and Osiris, play for the Irish and Cardinal, respectively. It had always been clear St. Brown had his eye on USC, but it was never certain that the Trojans were the outright favorite. He had taken visits there, but the five-star receiver was complimentary of every team. Even after Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei teammate and USC pledge JT Daniels reclassified from the 2019 to 2018 class, St. Brown said it wouldn’t play a major factor in his thinking. It had to. Because of that reason, because the Trojans can use him right away and because everything fit, St. Brown picked USC over his other favorites at the Army Bowl.

St. Brown is arguably the top receiver from California in at least a decade. He’s that special and has been that dominant, so he could be an immediate contributor among a loaded group of skilled receivers that are coming of age. Leading receiver Deontay Burnett could come back, Tyler Vaughns is a former five-star who put up big numbers this season, and Michael Pittman is a physical outside threat. St. Brown has been far more impactful than all of them at the same stage and provides another huge weapon in the Trojans’ offense.

Losing out on St. Brown hurts Notre Dame and Stanford in two ways: He’s a phenomenal offensive weapon who has dominated every event for over a year - and both schools will have to play him during the season. That’s tough. The Irish have some impressive receivers in the class, led by four-star Kevin Austin, so the cupboards aren’t bare, but teaming up the St. Brown Bros. at either school would have been nice. It’s also a big miss for Stanford, but probably less so since its offense is so run-oriented.