Anthony Schwartz using chance to play Tyreek Hill as a way to develop – Akron Beacon Journal

BEREA − There is only one Tyreek Hill. The Miami Dolphins star is, in the words of Browns safety John Johnson III, a “one-of-one” talent.

If your responsibility as a defense is to try and stop the blazing-fast Hill, that makes preparing for him a challenge in some regards. How, exactly, do you get anything remotely close to the kind of looks in practice to get a feel for what the NFL’s leading receiver this season will bring to Sunday’s game.

For the Browns, what you do is get yourself someone who can at least put up the same kind of speed numbers as Hill. That’s where Anthony Schwartz has found his role this week as Cleveland prepares to play at Miami.

Schwartz has spent the week as the designated Tyreek Hill stand-in on the Browns’ scout team. The second-year pro out of Auburn has embraced the challenge of emulating Hill − who comes into Sunday’s game leading the league-best 76 catches for 1,104 yards − for both team and personal gain.

“I mean, you know, it’s kind of challenging, especially with Tyreek, one of the best in the game, one of the best there is,” Schwartz told the Beacon Journal on Thursday. “So it was just trying to pretty much watch film here, trying to remember what I’ve seen from him and just trying to emulate that, because not only am I trying to emulate that for the scout team, there’s also like some things I want to add, that maybe I can add to my game. So it was kind of just good to just watch film on him and see how he goes and then go out there and not only try to give them the best look I can, it’s also, for my sake, I can practice these looks and be like, OK, maybe this is things I can add to my game. This is what I can do as well.”

No one would say Schwartz and Hill are in the same stratosphere as far as their careers as a receiver. While Hill has been one of the league’s stars at the position for several years now, first in Kansas City and now Miami, Schwartz has struggled to even get on the field of late in Cleveland.

The last two games prior to the Browns’ bye week may have been the nadir for Schwartz, a third-round pick in the 2021 draft. He was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career at Baltimore, then was limited to just five special-teams snaps and no snaps on offense in the Oct. 31 win over Cincinnati.

However, there is one way Schwartz compares very favorably to Hill. That’s in straight-line speed, something that changes the game, especially when a receiver gets behind the defense.

“I mean, that’s what I feel like with all of them, just top-class speed,” cornerback Greg Newsome II told the Beacon Journal . “They can take the top off at any second. So you always got to account for guys like that who has that top-class speed.”

Hill, considered by many the fastest player in the NFL, posted a 4.29-second 40-yard dash time at the 2016 Combine. Schwartz, five years later, ran a 4.27-second 40.

When the Browns took Schwartz, the hope was that he could eventually become their own version of Hill. At Auburn, he had been as much a star on the track as on the football field, and even ran a 10.07-second 100-meter dash during the IAAF Championships in Finland prior to being drafted.

However, Schwartz would be the first to tell you that Hill’s greatness isn’t just due to his speed.

“Honestly, I think it’s his body control just as much as the speed, because you see him running as fast as he is, he’s not out of control,” Schwartz said. “He’s able to stop on a dime, he’s able to change directions fast. You can’t really throw him around because he’s strong, too. So it’s like, he’s able to kind of control himself and stay control, even while running the top speed that he does.”

Schwartz has spent a lot of time studying Hill. That’s not just this week in getting himself ready to provide as good a look as possible to his defensive teammates.

There’s also the desire to add items to his own skills toolbox. One of those items is Hill’s ability to be able to get into his route, which then allows him to showcase his speed.

“I would say mainly from the release point,” Schwartz said, “because he’s the guy that, even when you throw up a press on him, he’s able to just kind of run around you and not even break a sweat. So it is just trying to add stuff like that to my game, trying to practice that out there and then then being able to see how comfortable I am doing that.”

How well Schwartz’s actually portrayed his much more highly-regarded Miami counterpart this week may not come out in Sunday’s game. That’s the greatness of Hill, who can be bottled up for a large chunk of a game and then get loose − see: 75-yard touchdown in last year’s opener in Kansas City − for a game-altering play.

If the Browns can at least contain the dynamic Hill, that would be a feather in Schwartz’s cap as well for his work. If Schwartz can turn his own career around and begin to develop into mainstay in the Browns’ offense.

That’s why Schwartz has taken an extra pride and focus in what he’s done during the week leading up to Sunday’s game in South Florida.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Schwartz said, “especially because like, if I do well Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, not only am I getting better, I’m getting the defense better, and then it just helps us on Sundays, whether it’s the defense being able to be able to stop and being able to plan around him, and then me whenever I get an opportunity on offense, just be able to do what I did on scout team, and do what I did against our guy. Going against them, you’re gonna get a defense, you’re getting full-speed reps all the time. So sometimes it’s even even better getting those reps because now you’re more prepared and more game ready.”

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ