DPD says giving former Auburn football WR snaps was ‘terrible decision’ by Browns

Former Auburn football wide receiver Anthony Schwartz did not get an endorsement from Dawg Pound Daily, the FanSided site dedicated to his pro team, the Browns — with the decision to even give him snaps in 2022 called a ‘terrible decision’ by DPD’s Greg Newland.

Schwartz regressed playing with Jacoby Brissett — his last game seeing snaps happened to be Deshaun Watson’s first week back in Week 13 — this past season, gaining most of his yardage as a rusher. His lone touchdown was off a reverse run play against the Buccaneers on November 27.

According to Newland, Schwartz’ mere presence lining up was ‘beyond frustrating’ and his snaps were likely better off being given to younger talent he feels have more of a chance of a future in Cleveland:

"“One of the biggest question marks coming into the 2022 season was who would be the third receiver? Anthony Schwartz, David Bell, and Michael Woods would all be given a shot, and truthfully all of them would end up striking out.”“What was beyond frustrating was continuing to see Schwartz get snaps each game. In 11 total games, he had four receptions for 51 yards, yet it felt like he was in the game at least 10 or 15 snaps per game just eating repetitions for the younger guys.”“Schwartz has an extremely limited route tree, struggles to catch the ball, and doesn’t even have the ability to return kicks. The only threat he posed was an end-around, which teams instantly queued on when he went in motion.”“Berry has a lot of pride in drafting Schwarts in the third round, but it’s time to let this one go and finally get someone some snaps who has a chance to fill the void.”"

Anthony Schwartz was the second-highest Auburn football WR draft pick in Gus Malzahn era

Back in 2020, Schwartz became the second-highest Auburn football wide receiver during the Gus Malzahn era behind Sammy Coates, who was selected in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft with the 87th overall pick. Schwartz was selected four slots later with the 91st pick in his draft class. The highest-drafted wideout during this millennium is Tim Carter, who was a second-round draft pick for the Giants in 2002.

Schwartz was one of a few major success stories at the wideout position for AU in the last decade, but his future in Cleveland is unclear considering the lack of an effort to establish chemistry between him and Watson. He’s shown enough to be on an NFL roster, so finding the right fit will be the difference between him staying at the highest level of pro football or Schwartz having to give it a go in the USFL or XFL.