The Opening Drive 6/25: Carson Schwesinger Cracks NFL Top 100, and "26 for 26" Mike Hall Jr.

Today we focus on two key pieces of the defense heading in different directions.

Jun 25, 2026

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CLEVELAND, OHIO - DECEMBER 21: Carson Schwesinger #49 of the Cleveland Browns waits for the snap during the second quarter against the Buffalo Bills at Huntington Bank Field on December 21, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)

Carson Schwesinger is officially a Top 100 player. The NFL’s annual player-voted countdown, now in its 16th year, slotted the second-year linebacker in at No. 93 as part of this week’s reveal. This isn’t a media outlet’s projection or a fan vote. It’s his peers — the guys lining up across from him on Sundays — saying he belongs among the league’s best.

The case for Schwesinger writes itself if you watched any tape from 2025. He started all 16 games as a rookie and led the Browns with 156 tackles, sixth-most in the league at any position, while adding 2.5 sacks, two interceptions and 11 tackles for loss. Those aren’t garbage-time numbers either — he was around the ball from Week 1, closing on Drake Maye’s first interception of his career in Week 8 and finishing strong enough to take home both the AP and PFWA Defensive Rookie of the Year awards. For a player who walked on at UCLA and went unranked out of high school, the trajectory from afterthought to Top 100 in roughly 14 months is the kind of thing that doesn’t happen and is a huge credit to Schwesinger’s work ethic and skill-set.

It also fits the range outlets were already pointing toward. NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks flagged Schwesinger as one of seven players who deserved their Top 100 debut this offseason, projecting him into the 75-and-up range based on his instincts and the rare feel he showed for a first-year starter. Landing at 93 puts him on the board, even if it’s a touch lower than that projection — which tracks with how these debut-tier slots tend to shake out for players with only one professional season on tape. The vote rewards proven bodies of work, and right now Schwesinger has exactly one All-Pro-caliber year to point to. The number will move.

The Browns paired Quincy Williams next to him this year, and Jared Verse now lines up on the same defense after the Garrett trade reshuffled the front seven. None of that changes Schwesinger’s job and ability to do it — he’s still the guy in the middle directing traffic — but it does change who’s making sure those tackle numbers hold up in coverage and against the run. A second straight 150-tackle season, with the quad injury fully behind him, is the version of 2026 that gets him out of the 90s and into a number that matches the tape rather than the resume.

For now, take the result for what it is: a rookie-year body of work that the league’s own players decided was good enough to count among its best 100. That’s not nothing, even at No. 93.

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“26 for 2026” Series Starts

(Photo Courtesy of the Cleveland Browns)

As we discussed on today’s pod, Mike Hall Jr. kicks off our series of the 26 most important Browns for the 2026 season. This is about establishing the important pieces of the roster, what they have shown the franchise, and what remains to be seen for this season.

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