Notre Dame WR Equanimeous St. Brown will declare for 2018 NFL Draft
Mike Elko wasn't the only person that decided to leave Notre Dame on Thursday.
Hours after the first-year Irish defensive coordinator accepted the same position at Texas A&M, junior wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown announced that he will declare for the 2018 NFL Draft.
"I've wrestled with this decision, but I've decided to declare for the 2018 NFL Draft!" St. Brown tweeted on Thursday night. "While my Notre Dame playing career has come to an end, I will come back to complete my degree. That's a part of this process that was never in question."
In 32 career games at Notre Dame, St. Brown — a 6-foot-5, 203-pound wide receiver — caught 92 passes for 1,484 yards and 13 touchdowns. His breakout season came as a sophomore in 2016, when the Anaheim, Calif., native produced 58 catches for 961 yards and nine scores.
In a relatively underwhelming 2017 campaign, St. Brown led all Notre Dame pass-catchers in receptions (33) and receiving yards (515), while tacking on four touchdowns.
Regardless, on Thursday he became the 15th true junior at Notre Dame to declare for the NFL Draft, which began accepting junior declarations in 1989, and the seventh in the last five draft cycles.
Of those previous 14 players, only three have been drafted in the first round: cornerback Tom Carter, running back Jerome Bettis and wide receiver Will Fuller.
Meanwhile, five-star 2018 wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown — Equanimeous' little brother — will announce a commitment to either Notre Dame, USC or Stanford during the US Army All-American Bowl on Saturday.
One thing is certain: if Amon-Ra commits to Notre Dame, he won't be playing alongside his older brother.
— Equanimeous (@Equanimeous) January 5, 2018
Well deserved. Thanks for all your hard work & commitment over the past 3 years! Go get your dream, best of luck brother ☘️ https://t.co/dXpMYvhCOT
— Drue Tranquill (@DTranquill) January 5, 2018
