LAMAR JACKSON KEPT the ball on a read-option on the Baltimore Ravens’ first play from scrimmage when the Cleveland Browns hosted their division rival Nov. 16, but Carson Schwesinger didn’t let the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player get to the edge as he has countless times.
Schwesinger stayed square with Jackson, cut off any angle he might have had and tracked down the quarterback for a 1-yard loss in a play that Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz later called “teach tape.”
The rookie linebacker was just getting started.
In the third quarter, Schwesinger leaped over tight end Charlie Kolar to intercept a pass from Jackson after it ricocheted off an offensive lineman’s helmet. In the fourth quarter, Schwesinger met Derrick Henry head-on in a running lane, wrapping up the All-Pro running back and driving him into the ground as if he wasn’t one of the league’s hardest players to tackle.
The Browns lost the Week 11 game 23-16, but it was the kind of performance — 11 total tackles, one interception and a pass breakup — that has highlighted Schwesinger’s meteoric rise after he had lived in anonymity for so long.
Four years ago, Schwesinger was an overlooked walk-on at UCLA. Now, he’s the NFL’s leading rookie tackler and the favorite to win the league’s defensive rookie of the year award.
“I’d be hard-pressed to believe there’s a defensive player as a rookie that’s playing better than him,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said.
A NATIVE OF Moonpark, California, about 50 miles west of Los Angeles, Schwesinger spent his first two years of high school playing football at Santa Clarita until the program shifted from 11-man to eight-man football.
Schwesinger had attended a skills development camp run by Chris Collins, who was then the head coach of Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village.
“He was raw as chicken when he came to me, but he was a guy who loved ball,” said Collins, who coached wide receivers with the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals and also coached Chad Johnson and Steve Smith Sr. at Santa Monica Community College before they went on to the NFL.
Collins called Schwesinger a “normal kid” at first and said nothing specifically jumped out about him. “But what began to jump out about him was he came back again. And he came back again. And lo and behold, we just created this bond. He loved ball. He wanted to know everything about ball, from every technique to everything fundamentally about it.
“He was just one of those kids who was rare in terms of wanting to work on the craft and wanting to work on the why and real analytical in terms of why you’re doing it,” Collins said.
Schwesinger transferred to Oaks Christian for his final two years, and he starred at safety and tight end.
“This guy got into pads, he turned into Superman,” Collins said of Schwesinger.
However, Schwesinger was a zero-star, lightly recruited prospect. His only offer came from FCS program Bucknell. It didn’t help that the COVID-19 pandemic forced Oaks Christian to push its football season to January 2021, which meant Schwesinger’s senior season didn’t start until after the Early Signing Day.
Collins had a relationship with then-UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who was recruiting one of Schwesinger’s teammates. Collins, though, kept encouraging Kelly to look at the lesser-touted Schwesinger.
“This guy is the fancy car right here, but [Schwesinger] is that old Chevy,” Collins said of Schwesinger, whom he described as a reliable player who played several positions.
The Oaks Christian teammate committed elsewhere, leading Collins to vouch for Schwesinger again. Kelly then offered a walk-on opportunity to Schwesinger, who grew up wanting to attend UCLA.
SCHWESINGER REDSHIRTED HIS first year at UCLA in 2021, and before the 2022 season, he was rewarded with a scholarship. As he waited for his opportunity, Schwesinger began to make a name for himself as a standout on the scout team.
“He’s either blocking a punt [or] making a tackle, and in my mind, I’m like, “Wait, what is he doing on scout team? Why don’t we put him on our side of the ball?” said Ikaika Malloe, the former defensive coordinator at UCLA.
Schwesinger finally got the chance for a larger role during his redshirt junior season in 2024. He transitioned from safety to linebacker, started 10 games and had a breakout season for the Bruins. Schwesinger was named a first-team All-American and a finalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker.
“Everything that he could control, he did,” Malloe said. “… He was always working as hard as he possibly could until he got the opportunity. … He learned the defensive line fits because he wanted to make sure he knew what windows he had where he could take a shot if it presented itself.”
Despite one year of meaningful production, Schwesinger elected to forego his remaining season and declared for the 2025 NFL draft.
“Obviously, at the beginning of the year, I wasn’t even starting, so there wasn’t a thought in my mind [about the draft],” Schwesinger told ESPN. “I was just coming back next year, and going into Week 3 is when I got the start. The mindset was still the same. And then, I just think throughout the year with the play and what I was hearing, it was the smartest decision for me to go into the draft by the end of the year, and it was still a decision to make.”
WITH ONLY ONE year of film to scout, Browns assistant general manager Glenn Cook called Schwesinger a “unique evaluation.”
Cleveland selected Schwesinger with the No. 33 pick to open Day 2 of the draft, and general manager Andrew Berry called the 22-year-old a “modern-day archetype at the position.”
Wisconsin alum and Hall of Famer @joethomas73 starts off Day 2 by announcing Carson Schwesinger to his @Browns.
📺: #NFLDraft on NFLN/ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/4tNRtU5ybR— NFL (@NFL) April 25, 2025
Weeks after drafting Schwesinger, the Browns announced that 2023 Pro Bowl linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah would miss the 2025 season because of a neck injury. And as training camp opened in late July, veteran linebacker Jordan Hicks was absent as he mulled and eventually announced his retirement.
That left a void in the middle of Cleveland’s defense. But on the first day of training camp, Schwesinger was at the center of the defense, relaying playcalls to his teammates. It was a testament to the trust that the coaching staff had in him and a harbinger.
“I saw it early,” Browns safety Grant Delpit said. “I ain’t going to lie. I saw it early at camp. I think everybody saw it, and we knew that he was going to be around the ball a lot.”
IN SUNDAY’s 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Schwesinger recorded his sixth straight game with at least 10 tackles, tying Carolina Panthers great Luke Kuechly for the longest such streak by a rookie since 2000. Schwesinger grew up modeling his game after Kuechly, the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year winner in 2012.
Along with leading all rookies in tackles (148) and tackles for loss (11.5), Schwesinger is tied for second among first-year players with two interceptions. He has also played 96% of the Browns’ defensive snaps, rarely leaving the field as he serves as the defensive playcaller.
“Even if the initial goal wasn’t for me to be the green dot [defensive playcaller], that was my personal goal,” Schwesinger said. “I want to be on the field as much as I possibly can, for sure. If they let me play offense, I’ll go play offense, you know what I’m saying? And then when that’s the mindset, it’s never, for lack of better words, scary to be thrust into a certain role because as a competitor, I want to be put in those tough roles.”
On a defense in which veteran edge rusher Myles Garrett is one sack from breaking the NFL’s single-season sack record, Schwesinger’s contributions have earned him high praise.
1 INT | 10 tackles | 2 TFL@Browns LB Carson Schwesinger is your Week 11 @pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week. pic.twitter.com/YSPT9CvB6M
— NFL (@NFL) November 20, 2025
“I was with Ray Lewis his first three years in the NFL. I don’t think — and Ray’s obviously a Hall of Famer, maybe the best ever to play in the linebacker position, but the command that Carson has now in a lot of respects took Ray’s third year in the league,” Schwartz said. “… And middle linebacker is hard, linebacker is a hard position to play for a young player. You have to have all of the run fits; you have to have the physicality to play there. You have to be a productive tackler. You have to know all the blitzes. You have to have all the coverage components. And a lot of times, it takes guys sort of piecemeal to put all of that stuff together, right?
“… He’s been right in the middle of it, and it’s been fun to watch because not only does he do all that stuff well, but he has great command. He’s a great leader for us. He’s our playcaller, very rarely makes a mistake. When he does make a mistake, it doesn’t repeat, and he’s very productive on the field, so that’s well-deserved from him.”
The same preparation and attention to detail that allowed him to go from a walk-on at UCLA to a full-time starter have been noticed in Cleveland.
“I was haunting the hallways here late one night and looking for some snacks and went into the linebacker room, and he was in there watching film,” Schwartz said. “So, just that kind of stuff earns your trust not just as a coach, but also as a teammate.”
Malloe called Schwesinger’s journey “the epitome of development,” a story he doesn’t see being replicated soon because of a college program’s reluctance to turn to a former walk-on because of the prevalence of the transfer portal and NIL.
Though the Browns are 3-12, Schwesinger has been the star of a productive rookie class that is expected to serve as the team’s foundation for years to come.
“A lot of it just comes down to work ethic,” Schwesinger said of his rise. “I think what my dad preached to me my whole life was if you’re willing to go out there and outwork people and put the work in so that you’re prepared for any opportunities, you’re going to be able to make the most of it. And that’s not just in football, that’s anywhere in life really.”
