Brugler's Scouting Report. #21 WR in this class
21. ANTHONY SCHWARTZ | Auburn 6000 | 186 lbs. | JR. Pembroke Pines, Fla. (American Heritage) 9/5/2000 (age 20.65) #1
BACKGROUND: Anthony Schwartz grew up in south Florida and started playing football at six years old. He attended American Heritage High School, where he was coached by two former NFL players (Mike Rumph and Patrick Surtain) and was teammates with several top recruits like CB Patrick Surtain II (Alabama), CB Tyson Campbell (Georgia), CB Marco Wilson (Florida) and DL Tedarrell Slaton (Florida). Schwartz helped Heritage to back-to-back 5A state championships and a 27-game winning streak his junior and senior years. He posted 25 catches for 507 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior, adding a rushing touchdown and an interception on defense. Schwartz was a nationally-ranked sprinter in high school, setting a world youth record in the 100 meters (10.15). As a senior, he was named the 2018 Gatorade track athlete of the year, winning the Class 2A state championship in the 100 meters (10.07) and 200 meters (20.41). Schwartz won the silver medal in the 100 meters (10.22) at the IAAF world championships in Finland, taking the gold medal in the 4x100 relay (38.88) for Team USA. A four-star recruit out of high school, Schwartz was the No. 30 wide receiver in the 2018 class and the No. 28 recruit in the state of Florida. He considered offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame, USC and others before choosing Auburn, signing as a two-sport athlete. Schwartz joined the Auburn track team and set the school’s freshman record in the indoor 60 meters (6.59) and placed sixth at the SEC Outdoors in the 100 meters (10.21). Due to injuries and COVID, he decided to focus on football only after the 2019 season. Schwartz elected to skip his senior year and enter the 2021 NFL Draft.
YEAR (GP/GS) REC YDS AVG TD NOTES
2018: (13/4) 22 357 16.2 2 5 rush TDs
2019: (13/4) 41 440 10.7 1 2 rush TDs
2020: (10/9) 54 636 11.8 3 Led team in receptions; Didn’t play in the bowl game
Total: (36/17) 117 1,433 12.2 6
HT WT ARM HAND WING 40-YD 20-YD 10-YD VJ BJ SS 3C BP
6000 186 31 1/2 9 3/8 75 1/2 4.25 2.58 1.51 32 10’3” 4.25 7.13 - (no bench press – choice)
STRENGTHS: World-class speed and was the fastest player on the field in every game in college…sees a lot of underneath targets with defenders respecting his deep speed…can make the first man miss and use his acceleration to turn short throws into big gains (77.0% of his receiving yards in 2020 came after the catch)…hits another gear downfield to widen his vertical separation…was responsible for six offensive plays (five receptions, one rush) of 50-plus yards, including a 91-yard catch in 2020…has the fluidity to get in/out of his breaks and understands leverage points mid-route…his stop quickness creates quick windows at the top of routes…his catch radius steadily improved the last three seasons…averaged 7.7 yards per carry on rush attempts with seven rushing touchdowns.
WEAKNESSES: Narrowly-built athlete with lean muscle tone…inconsistent tracking skills and needs to do a better job attacking the football…prone to focus lapses and body catches with too many footballs ending up on the ground (eight drops in 2020)…questionable route awareness and often late to make coverage adjustments or sell patterns…doesn’t have the body strength to power through tackle attempts or work congested areas of the field…for a player with his speed, I expected better more than only 11 career catches of 25-plus yards…wasn’t used as a return man in college…required surgery on his left hand (August 2019), which hampered him during the first part of his sophomore season…had more rushing touchdowns (seven) than receiving touchdowns (six) in his Auburn career.
SUMMARY: A three-year starter at Auburn, Williams was the Y receiver in former offensive coordinator Chad Morris’ spread scheme, lining up across the formation. With his speed, he was a threat every time he touched the football in the Tigers’ offense, although there were a lot of “all-or-nothing” type plays with only 9.4% of his catches resulting in a 25-plus yard gain over the last three seasons. Schwartz’s track background is impressive and translates to the football field, using speed cuts that create conflict for cover defenders and destroy pursuit angles for tacklers. He can accelerate in a blink to win vertically, but he is more of a catch-and-run weapon and lacks the size, ball skills or instincts to be a high-volume target. Overall, Schwartz needs to grow into more of a well-rounded, reliable receiver, but he has the rare natural speed and burst that no defensive back wants to face (and will likely get him overdrafted). He projects as a feast-or-famine NFL receiver with room to be more.
GRADE: 4th Round