Carson
Schwesinger.
Carson
Schwesinger.
UCLA· 6'3"· 242 lb
"Diagnose-and-go weakside linebacker whose eyes and closing burst arrive before the blocker does — a range-and-instincts second-level player who turns one clean read into a tackle for loss and covers enough ground to stay on the field on third down."Pre-draft read
This weakside off-ball linebacker processes quickly, reading guard and tackle keys pre-snap, and triggers downhill on run action. He beats climbing offensive linemen to the fit point, using quick, choppy feet through traffic. He presses gaps with square shoulders and executes wrap-and-drive tackles in open space.
In coverage, he exhibits plus zone awareness, reading the quarterback's shoulders, sinking under crossers, and breaking on throws with ball skills. He also shows the ability to carry vertical seams and open his hips to run with backs and tight ends. As a blitzer, he times the snap well, threading A- and B-gaps rather than relying on power.
Fangio-style two-high, light-box defense that asks the WILL to run the alley, spot-drop with vision on the quarterback and cover backs man-to-man.
Year 1: every-down nickel linebacker who calls the front and stays on the field on third down. Ceiling: green-dot defensive signal-caller and 150-tackle centerpiece with takeaway production.
A two-gap, heavy 3-4 front that leaves the inside backers unblocked-by-design only rarely and asks them to take on pulling guards and 320-pound climbers head-on every snap.
His value spikes when the front keeps him clean; it flattens when the scheme wants a downhill thumper to spill power.
Carson Schwesinger college highlights — UCLA linebacker
2024 reel of his downhill triggers, sideline range and coverage breaks.
UCLA LB Carson Schwesinger: from walk-on to second-round pick
Todd McShay on the tape and the traits that turned a zero-star walk-on into a top-40 pick.
Carson Schwesinger pro day linebacker drills
Change-of-direction, drop and closing drills from his pre-draft workout.
Schwesinger projects as an instinctive three-down off-ball linebacker, with a defensive signal-caller upside that teams are buying into due to his exceptional mental processing and sideline-to-sideline range. His 39.5-inch vertical jump answered athletic questions, demonstrating a level of athleticism that pairs well with his on-field instincts.
After accumulating 27 tackles in 26 games from 2021-2023, he broke out in 2024 as a team captain, leading the Big Ten with 136 tackles. In 12 games, he recorded 8.5 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, two interceptions, and three pass breakups, earning first-team All-America honors. This single season of premium production against a Big Ten schedule provided the primary evidence for his projection.
Despite a consensus projection of late first to early second round, evaluators were split between those trusting his instincts and those concerned about the limited one-year sample and his 31 5/8-inch arm length at the point of attack. His selection at pick 33 addressed the potential trade-off between production and physical measurements.
- 01
Elite processing
reads guard and tackle keys instantly, triggers on the first flash of run action and consistently arrives at the fit before the climbing lineman can get hands on him.
- 02
Sideline-to-sideline range
chases plays down from the backside and turns marginal pursuit angles into stops, the trait that produced a Big Ten-leading 136 tackles in only 12 games.
- 03
Genuine coverage value
opens his hips to carry seams, matches backs and tight ends, and reads the quarterback in zone; two interceptions and three breakups in his lone starting year.
- 04
Reliable open-field tackling
wraps and drives through contact rather than lunging, with the balance to break down on shifty backs in space and finish the play cleanly.
- 05
Blitz timing
threads A- and B-gaps on delayed pressures and times the snap well, converting free runs into 4.0 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss without needing to win with power.
- 01
One-year sample
27 total tackles across 26 games from 2021 to 2023 before the 2024 breakout, leaving evaluators projecting a starter off a single season of premium production.
- 02
Length at the point of attack
31 5/8-inch arms mean he must beat blockers with timing and leverage; when a guard reaches his frame first, he struggles to disengage and reset the fit.
- 03
Take-on strength
gets displaced by pulling guards and climbing tackles in gap and duo run games, which caps his value in a scheme that asks the inside backers to spill power head-on.
- 04
Aggressive triggers
the same downhill decisiveness that makes him productive occasionally gets him out of position on counters, play-action and misdirection from the same backfield look.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- —s
- Vertical
- 39.5inp50
- Broad jump
- —in
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- 20repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | UCLA | 13 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | UCLA | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | UCLA | 12 | 136 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Career | — | 38 | 163 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Honors
- First-team All-American (2024)
- Led the Big Ten with 136 tackles in 2024
- Butkus Award and Burlsworth Trophy semifinalist (2024)
- UCLA team captain (2024)
- Walk-on to All-American
Every-down nickel linebacker who racks up tackles and holds up on third down without elite length.
Instincts-and-range defensive signal-caller who quarterbacks the front and takes the ball away.
Productive but scheme-dependent backer whose lack of length shows up against power run games.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Cleveland opened the second round with him after trading out of the top five, and the one-year-sample concern evaporated almost immediately. Schwesinger won an every-down role out of camp, started 16 games as a rookie and led the Browns with 156 tackles — sixth in the entire league — adding 2.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, three passes defensed and two interceptions, the first coming off Drake Maye in Week 8.
He was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for November, made the PFWA All-Rookie Team, and was voted NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year for the 2025 season. A quad injury put him on season-ending injured reserve on January 3, 2026, the only blemish on the ledger.
His peers ranked him 93rd on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026, and he enters his second year as Cleveland's defensive signal-caller — the rare late-blooming walk-on whose instincts translated instantly, and the clearest early argument that the pre-draft market underrated him.