Midseason Rookie Reviews: Carson Schwesinger

The Browns have a good young linebacker, but how good can he be eventually?

(Courtesy of the Cleveland Browns)

We continue our rookie midseason reviews, and that means we now shift to linebacker Carson Schwesinger after discussing Mason Graham earlier this week. As the Browns were making key selections in the 2025 NFL Draft, they surprised many by taking Schwesinger near the top of the second round. However, the pick quickly made plenty of sense given the team’s injuries and the veteran decisions looming.

Due to the injury to Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and the abrupt retirement of Jordan Hicks, Schwesinger was thrust not only into the starting lineup right away but also into a leadership role as the “green dot” — directing play calls and handling critical pre-snap communications. The Browns have leaned on him heavily from the start, and he has responded well.

Reminder: “Personally, I want to see flashes. With the learning curve at these positions being steep, I understand the growing pains will happen. I’m instead looking for the pathway the player will take to become dominant at some point. Show me how you’ll win with consistency as you age — that’s the theory.”

Let’s dig into the scouting profile.

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Data: Schwesinger has played 460 snaps overall. 6 pressures (2nd in the class), 1 sack (1st in the class), 42 tackles (t2nd in the class), 22 “stop” plays (1st in the class).

• 9/56 in the NFL in LB Total Defense Grade

• 15/56 in the NFL in LB Run Defense Grade

• 10/56 in the NFL in LB Coverage Grade

• 28th in total tackles and 24th in STOP tackles among all LBs

• 19th in Run Stop%

• 47/75 in the NFL in run stop percentage

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Strength Areas: What pops off the tape is that Schwesinger, despite only one year of full-time starting college experience, is able to diagnose primary concepts quickly and then get from A-to-B abruptly and with power. He processes quickly and then acts accordingly to beat opposing lineman to the interior point-of-attack or beat the ball carrier to the outside destination. His athleticism from college certainly has shown up right away and he’s done well closing laterally and vertically.