Cleveland Browns Comprehensive NFL Draft Review: Anthony Schwartz, WR Auburn

The Cleveland Browns drafted arguably the fastest player in the entire draft class in Anthony Schwartz as well as one of the youngest. Evaluating him and projecting his future based on historical data and game tape.

Pete Smith | May 6, 2021

With the 91st pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns selected Anthony Schwartz, wide receiver from Auburn.

Schwartz has enjoyed success both in football as well as track, he ran a 10.07 100 meter dash in his senior year of high school. His passion is in football, using track to help him in that pursuit but he might have had an opportunity to compete in the Tokyo Olympics if that was his sole focus.

Athletic Profile

Age: 20 (Born September 5th, 2000)

Height: 6'

Weight: 186 lbs

Arm Length: 31.5"

40-yard dash: 4.27

Broad Jump: 123"

Vertical Jump: 32"

3-cone: 7.13

Shuttle: 4.25

Bench Press: DNP

It should come as no surprise that Schwartz has elite speed. It might be a little shocking just how poorly he tested in terms of his agility and explosion relative to his size. His vertical jump in particular is surprisingly poor. None of that limits his potential relative to historical data.

The fact he doesn't turn 21 until September makes him the youngest player this regime has picked in two seasons.

Schwartz Athleticism — Jim Cobern @Jimetrics

Production

2020 (Best Season)

Receptions: 56

Receiving Yards: 636 yards (26.2%)

Touchdowns: 3

Schwartz has enough production to be a long term starter, but comes nowhere near the averages. Receiver production is just such a huge element in projecting future success and while Schwartz was able to contribute to the Tigers offense as the second leading receiver, it doesn't do that much in terms for his long term success.

Schwartz Production — Jim Cobern @Jimetrics

Game Tape

Schwartz stands out as what should be a deep threat with his track speed and while they use him in that capacity, various issues in their offense prevented it from happening nearly as often as they would have liked.

There are areas where Schwartz stretches the field where he simply creates space for the rest of the offense, particularly quarterback Bo Nix, who will pull the ball and run into the open space. His speed is frightening enough that plenty of defensive backs would play back for fear of getting beat deep.

Most of the time, Schwartz is an offensive weapon and the coaching staff is finding ways to get the ball in his hands in hopes that he can create yardage. Jet sweeps, fly sweeps, screens, quick passes and occasionally lining him up positions like an H-back to give him the ball.

Auburn under Gus Malzahn was a team that would use formations and motion to cause confusion for the defense and create favorable matchups, so Schwartz was utilized out wide as well as in the slot often.

His body control is pretty good. He is able to adjust to passes that force him to open his hips to adjust and land pretty gracefully, able to continue running after the catch. Schwartz is explosive and it doesn't take much for him to gain speed or gain yardage. He's not someone who breaks many tackles, but he is willing to fight for yardage through contact even if he's doing so often toward the sideline.

Schwartz will occasionally use a jump cut, but he avoids most defenders in choosing the right path and simply being faster then they are. He reads blocks and has shown the ability maximize opportunities.

As a route runner, he can win with hard cuts like on out routes and comebacks. Routes that allow him to take advantage of his speed even if it's just to scare the opponent into giving him significant separation. Auburn's route tree is not extensive, so he runs a lot of seam routes, but sets up his out cuts pretty well. He understands how to use his speed to scare opponents into opening their hips, immediately cutting and exploiting that space.

Schwartz will drop passes, typically because he takes his eye off the ball as he looks to plan his next move. He does not offer a massive catch radius but he's got pretty decent hands down the field. Schwartz isn't high pointing passes or making spectacular catches, but he is willing to pluck the ball out of the air with his hands.

Auburn rarely asked Schwartz to block. Often, they were running duo concepts where he was a screen check down on running plays or the quarterback was making a choice presnap based on where the numbers worked. When he did block, Schwartz isn't afraid to throw his body in the way, but that's about it to this point.

Fit, Usage and Projection

Schwartz's speed stands out immediately to go down the field, attacking as a vertical threat, which is certainly something they will want. Just him as a threat running down the field should create spacing for the offense, be it for the running game or tight ends or even a receiver like Odell Beckham.

Based on Stefanski's background in Minnesota, it seems like part of the reason they liked Schwartz was because he can play the role of a joker. With the Vikings, they had Cordarrelle Patterson, who was electrifying with the ball in his hands, but not much as a true wide receiver.

With polished receivers elsewhere along with their tight ends, they didn't need a third receiver to come in and try to move the chains on third down. The primary receivers and tight ends can do that. Instead, it allows them to add a playmaker. Schwartz was doing that for Auburn. The Browns would likely utilize him in some of the same ways.

Jet sweeps, quick screens, manufactured touches where the coaching staff attempts to create situations where Schwartz has room to run with the ball in his hands and see if the defense has an answer for it. On top of that, the Browns have receivers who can block, so it's all the more reason to employ this with Schwartz. Before the injury, the Browns did some of this with Beckham and they may continue to do that in order to get the ball in his hands. Schwartz offers that same element.

Baker Mayfield gets a badly needed deep threat and the offense gets this option that can create instant offense or at least force defenses to account for it.

Schwartz may not play much as a rookie. He may not even be active for every game. When active, he'll get 10, maybe 15 snaps, in this capacity. Presumably, at least one of those will be with the intent of taking a shot down the field, but they will find ways to get him the ball.

Over time, they can hopefully get him to become a bigger part of the offense as he looks to develop the finer points of the position that Auburn never asked him to perform, but given the sheer amount of players in the wide receiver room, that may be at least a year away.

Schwartz could also be a gunner on punts immediately with his speed. He's not small either.

Long term, Schwartz has the potential to become a long term starter at the position that could enjoy a really nice career with the Browns, giving Mayfield someone that enables him to use all of his arm strength and downfield accuracy, adding an element the team simply did not have in the 2020 season, particularly once Beckham went down to injury.