Wide receiver Anthony Schwartz is perhaps the fastest player in the 2018 recruiting class, and Thursday, he committed to play college football at Auburn.
247Sports' Keith Niebuhr confirmed the playmaker's selection of the Tigers.
Schwartz is a 4-star prospect who rates as the No. 153 overall player in the 2018 recruiting class, according to 247Sports' composite rankings. He's also listed as the No. 28 wideout and the No. 25 recruit from the state of Florida.
Those ratings don't paint a complete picture of his upside, though.
A lot of skill position prospects arriving at the collegiate level feature good speed. It's almost a prerequisite to earning a scholarship offer from a Division I program unless a player has other outstanding tools to make up for a lack of straight-line quickness.
That said, Schwartz is on another level, even compared to those other promising burners.
Cory Mull of MileSplit USA reported the American Heritage School standout posted a 10.15-second time in the 100-meter dash during the Pepsi Florida Relays. The result was the fastest March run in history by a high school athlete and the sixth overall.
Florida Runners passed along comments from Schwartz about his speed:
Those types of numbers give him Olympic track and field potential. He's also starting to blossom on the football field, though.
Zach Abolverdi of SEC Country noted Schwartz was one of the top performers at the Miami regional for the annual The Opening showcase in February. The wide receiver was happy to prove he brings more to the table than simply being able to outrun defensive backs.
"It feels great that they recognized me as one of the top football players down here," he said. "I just wanted to come out, run a fast 40 and do good in 1-on-1's. South Florida has the best football, so to know that I'm one of the best is just an amazing feeling."
He's still very much in the development stage when it comes to the finer points of the position, including route running and blocking, but the raw tools as a whole are off the charts.
Schwartz represents a highly intriguing addition for Gus Malzahn and the Tigers. His floor as a college player is a dangerous weapon on special teams. He also possesses the potential to become a valuable contributor on offense over time, though.
The mystery is how long it will take for him to crack the Auburn lineup. The team is slated to have a couple of openings at receiver over the next few years. Whether the speed demon can make enough progress to quickly take over one of those spots, likely in the slot, is uncertain.
Read more Auburn Football news on BleacherReport.com
from Bleacher Report http://ble.ac/2CIzdV6
No comments:
Post a Comment