3 Browns players that need to stand out in preseason Week 3

No. 1: Anthony Schwartz, WR

Anthony Schwartz has been in more conversations this preseason outside of Deshaun Watson and that’s not necessarily a good sign. Maybe it’s because Cleveland doesn’t seem to have a great wide receiver room coming into the regular season and many fans are trying to get behind a player or two in hopes they will work out.

Cleveland has one standout at receiver with Amari Cooper and they also drafted David Bell out of Purdue who seems to have a promising future. Donovan Peoples-Jones is entering year No. 3 and while we hope he flourishes, he still hasn’t proven he’s a legit No. 2 — although he did put up some good numbers in year two which is promising.

As for Schwartz, he’s supposed to be this track star who can separate from his defender and stretch the field — kind of like what we saw last Sunday when Eagles quarterback Reid Sinnett connected with rookie Devon Allen, also a former college track star.

Unfortunately, none of those types of easy touchdowns have happened yet and now there are questions if Schwartz can offer them up. He caught two passes for 20 yards and took a sweep handoff for an uninspiring four-yard gain. Some have suggested Schwartz made some progress, but I don’t see that type of effort as progress.

Schwartz needs to do some big things in this upcoming contest on Saturday. I’d love to see him take that sweep handoff and run for like 25 yards. He had that type of opportunity last season too and failed almost every time. Maybe we’ll Brissett throw a beautiful deep pass to a streaking Schwartz for a touchdown.

I’m not convinced that Schwartz is safe to make that final roster. I certainly hope he plays the game Saturday with some urgency.

There will be numerous other players, especially those in the third and fourth rotations that need to play well to try and sneak onto this team.