We’ve reached the penultimate week before the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh. The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks have been busy with top 30 visits and local prospect meetings, and as time winds down on these in-person visits, a projected late-round defensive tackle has surfaced on Seattle’s radar.
NFL insider Arye Pulli reported over the weekend that the Seahawks will meet with former North Carolina State run-stuffer Brandon Cleveland.
Cleveland spent his entire collegiate career at NC State, starting two of those seasons. Here’s the rundown from The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, who gave him a sixth-round grade:
A two-year starter at NC State, Cleveland was an interchangeable one-/three-technique in defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot’s multiple fronts. He packed on weight after enrolling in Raleigh and moved down the defensive line, closer to the football. He didn’t pad the stat sheet as a junior or senior, but his talent and tape are more forgiving.
Cleveland is a hard-hat lineman content with doing the dirty work in the middle of the trenches. He is a stout run defender who can bend and hold his ground. Though he doesn’t have the feet or length for quick wins (just 13 pressures in 2025), his hand use helps him clear block engagement to create congestion up the gut.
Not every top 30 visit is meant to be targeting the upper-tier prospects, and the Seahawks have a terrific track record under John Schneider as far as finding late-round or undrafted gems. Cleveland joins Ohio State’s Kayden McDonald as the only known defensive tackles to have official in-person visits with the Seahawks.
Check Cleveland’s highlight reel out below:
