The Cleveland Browns are ushering in a new era of football, especially on defense after they traded away Myles Garrett. They have linebacker Carson Schwesinger entering his second year, but he's already one of the best players at his position.
NFL executives, coaches, and scouts ranked the off-ball linebackers in the league going into 2026, and Schwesinger came in at No. 3, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. He has been receiving praise from all over the league, and it's just another source of validation for Cleveland regarding their emerging star.
"He's [Luke] Kuechly reincarnated. Elite speed, athleticism, instincts, ball skills," an NFL personnel executive said.
"Plays fast, excellent instincts, good in coverage. Impressive for a rookie," a high-ranking AFC evaluator stated.
Everyone who saw what No. 49 could do on the field was amazed, and the positive comments coming from other people around the league are the latest example of that. And it tells Browns fans what they already knew.
NFL rankings make Browns' Carson Schwesinger pick look even better
The Browns drafted Schwesinger with the 33rd overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, and he immediately stood out. He was able to get a full runway as Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was sidelined last year with a neck injury.
And Schwesinger took full advantage of the starter reps. Across 16 starts, he ranked sixth in the NFL in total tackles (156) with 11 TFLs, nine QB hits, two sacks, three pass deflections, and two interceptions.
On Pro Football Focus, he finished with a 74.4 overall grade (21st among 88 graded linebackers), an 81.5 run defense grade (14th among 88 graded linebackers), and a 61.6 coverage grade (32nd among 88 graded linebackers).
Those numbers helped him earn NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2025, when he got 40 first-place votes. He beat out Nick Emmanwori of Seattle, James Pearce Jr. of Atlanta, Xavier Watts of Atlanta, and Abdul Carter of the New York Giants.
There's no hiding how impactful a defender the UCLA product is, and it only took one year for him to put that on full display. While these are opinions, high-ranking officials believe that Schwesinger is a better player than Zack Baun of the Eagles, Jack Campbell of the Lions, Nick Bolton of the Chiefs, and Devin Lloyd of the Panthers, to name a few.
That's nothing to sneeze at and is high praise for such a young player, but it shows the kind of ceiling he can have. Everyone in Cleveland's building knows how good a player Schwesinger is, and they have lofty expectations for him in 2026. They know he can handle whatever he's asked to do, and these rankings give them yet another reason to believe.
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