The Cleveland Browns' 2025 draft class has been wildly impressive this season, with rookies Mason Graham, Quinshon Judkins, Harold Fannin Jr., and Dylan Sampson looking like real NFL players. We'll see how those quarterbacks turn out to call it a complete success.
But one rookie has stood out from the bunch, and that's rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger, the Browns' 33rd overall pick in this past April's draft. The UCLA standout has been a key piece for Cleveland's top-of-the-line defense.
According to a panel of general managers and league executives, paneled by NFL Network's Tom Pellissero, he should be the favorite to bring home some hardware at the end of the season.
Carson Schwesinger voted Defensive Rookie of the Year by NFL executives
Although there are a handful of rookie edge rushers making a splash in 2025, Schwesinger's play this year has not been that of a first-year player.
"It was a landslide win for Schwesinger, who received 23 votes. The second-round pick (33rd overall) from UCLA emerged as an instant star in Cleveland, leading all rookies (and ranking seventh in the NFL overall) with 137 tackles. He also has 11 tackles for loss (most among rookies), two interceptions, 2.5 sacks and nine QB hits. And he's done it all while wearing the green dot as the signal-caller for the Browns' defense," wrote Pellissero.
"The last team to have the Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year on the same team was the 2003 Ravens, with Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs; the Browns now appear poised to do it with Garrett and Schwesinger, who might be the best find of Cleveland's excellent rookie class."
The Browns seem to have found themselves a bona fide star in their rookie linebacker, and if Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah can come back healthy in 2026, Cleveland has arguably the top one-two punch at linebacker in the league.
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