Back in April at the NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns owned the first pick in the second round, which happened to be their own.
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The Browns, New York Football Giants, and the Tennessee Titans all finished with 3-14-0 records, and through a series of tie-breakers, the Titans would pick first, followed by the Browns, and then the Giants in Round 1. In the second round, the Browns and Giants would slide up one slot with the Titans falling to the third position.
Then, for the third round, New York and Tennessee would go up one spot while Cleveland would drop to three.
Starting with the fourth round, all three clubs would assume their position in the first round, and so on, alternating the first position in every round.
After the first round, Cleveland GM Andrew Berry’s phone lit up with other team general managers wanting that first pick in the second round, pick #33. That selection is often called “first round talent for second round money.”
Numerous players were still sitting on the draft board when the first round concluded. Holes on rosters still needed to be filled. And other clubs were dangling more draft picks in order to snare that first choice.
Still not selected were WRs Jayden Higgins of Iowa State and Missouri’s Luther Borden, Ohio State RBs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, QB Shedeur Sanders of Colorado, DT T.J. Sanders, and S Nick Emmanwori, both from South Carolina, along with OTs Aireontae Ersery from Minnesota and North Carolina State’s Anthony Belton.
The surprise came when Berry, who is known for making trades, kept the pick. After filling out the draft pick card, at the draft podium, it was heard:
“With the 33rd pick in the 2025 NFL draft, the Cleveland Browns select Carson Schwesinger, linebacker, USC.”
The broadcast cameras panned to Browns’ fans at the event. At first, everyone on-screen looked like a deer in headlights, like, what? Who? Then, noticing the red light on top of the camera, each Clevelander broke out into that fake celebratory hysteria.
Carson who? He plays what again, linebacker? A guy from sunny California? Is coming here? Where most likely he has never experienced snow?
And besides, Berry selected a defensive tackle in the first round, and yet, here is another defender? It is the offense that needs the most help. Plus, we hoped/assumed Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah would return, the middle was manned by a tackling machine in Jordan Hicks, and Devin Bush had a rebound year in 2024. What in the heck do we need another linebacker for?
Going into training camp, nobody was talking about Schwesinger, even though he was the second player selected in the draft by the Browns and had good measurements of 6’-3” and a beefy 242 pounds. That frame harkened back to the 1980s when guys like Harry Carson and Mike Singletary were all really big dudes who had good short area bursts but couldn’t give much as a trail defender.
Cleveland had three rookies who led the nation in several categories. QB Sanders led the nation in completion percentage with 74.0. TE Harold Fannin led two categories: most receptions (117) and most receiving yards (1,555). And Schwesinger led the nation in solo tackles with 90.
And as it turned out, this Browns’ defense needed another linebacker. JOK was not ready to return from his neck injury, while Hicks just decided one day he was going to retire, as preparations for the upcoming season were still being formulated.
Here was this blonde-haired California kid in camp. What to think of him? What to do with him?
Fast forward to Week 10 of this NFL season. Schwesinger has four games with double-digit tackle numbers, and another four games with 7+. In all, he has 85 total tackles. The remainder of his stats are five QB hits, eight tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two batted passes, one interception, one hurry, five pressures, and two knockdowns. He also has six missed tackles. He is ranked #10 in passing touchdowns allowed while in coverage (4).
Rewind to the days of Joe Schobert. Lots of tackles and loads of missed tackles. Just a game of percentages and aggression.
Schwesinger is ranked #15 in total tackles in the league. The number five, seven, and nine-ranked players on that list all have double-digit numbers in missed tackles.
In Week 8 against the New England Patriots, he suffered a high ankle sprain. Normally, this type of injury will keep a player down for four to six weeks. Schwesinger didn’t miss a single game due to the bye week and returned in two weeks in the loss to the New York Jets, only to lead all Cleveland defenders with 10 total tackles.
The only two defenders who come close to Schwesinger’s numbers are Dallas Cowboys LB Shemar James (Round 5) with 56 tackles, and Jihaad Campbell (Round 1) of the Philadelphia Eagles with 52 tackles.
Smell that? That taste is Schwesinger getting the NFL Rookie of the Year Award at season’s end.
Schwesinger was just 5’10”, weighing 170 pounds while playing wide receiver at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, California. He is one of five siblings with a sister who played basketball and one brother who played college football at Cal Lutheran University.
He caught 115 passes as a receiver for 1,670 yards and 10 touchdowns during his high school career. Later, he also played some cornerback. Coming out of his senior season, he was rated a zero-star recruit, and his only college interest was the Air Force Academy.
Schwesinger’s older sister was enrolled at UCLA. He also enrolled and joined the football squad as a walk-on. In his freshman year, he did not play but earned the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for the fall quarter as an engineering student.
At every turn, a Cali kid.
Schwesinger’s final season is where it all came together.
He played in all 12 games and averaged 11.3 tackles per game. He recorded a career-high 17 tackles in a losing effort against Washington and had nine games in which he had double-digit tackle numbers, and had a streak of six straight double-digit-tackle performances in 2024. At season’s end, he had tallied 136 total tackles, with 90 being solo tackles. He was ranked #3 nationally in total tackles and #1 in solo tackles.
In addition, he ran a 4.64 in the 40 and added four sacks, two interceptions, three batted passes, one forced fumble, and nine tackles for loss. He was named First-Team All-American, First-Team All-Big Ten, and was a finalist for the Butkus Award and the Burlsworth Trophy.
Who is Schwesinger? An absolute man-handler.
