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Browns rookie LB Carson Schwesinger sees 'opportunity' for strong and immediate impact in Cleveland

Browns rookie LB Carson Schwesinger sees 'opportunity' for strong and immediate impact in Cleveland
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BEREA, Ohio — Carson Schwesinger's journey has been nothing short of impressive as his upward trajectory took him from a walk-on at UCLA to being considered as a potential Week 1 starter for the Cleveland Browns this season. The Browns' rookie has been hard at work and, with the makeup of the roster, is keyed into the opportunities in front of him.

Schwesinger, the Browns' second-round draft pick this year, is a 6-foot-2, 242-pound linebacker out of UCLA. Starting as a walk-on, Schwesinger worked his way into a reserve role before becoming a starter last season, where he was widely regarded as one of the best linebackers in the nation.

In the early weeks of work with the Browns through rookie minicamp, OTAs and mandatory minicamp, Schwesinger already began showing his skillset on the field.

"Carson really does a really good job of being able to focus on each play and making the next play his best play, which is one of the things that I've said before, but that that's usually where a rookie will struggle, where he is worried about what he just did or hangs onto it. He figures it out, ask great questions, runs to the ball," said linebackers coach Jason Tarver. "He's led us in running to the ball, led us in scoops in the spring, which is good. We need to do that. We need to set the tempo, but the rookies should; they're younger. And really impressed with how he goes to the next play and how conscious he is within the play."

Schwesinger already has a bit of a highlight reel from offseason workouts. During rookie minicamp, he notched a pick-six against rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel — a play he didn't want to brag about but was keenly aware of as he aims to make himself felt early.

"I think anywhere you show up, you want to be able to make plays, and so when you can come out and do that early and continue to do that, it's always a good thing," Schwesinger said.

For Schwesinger, the goal is to take the momentum he's built up through his college career, from walk-on to leading the nation in solo tackles, with him into his debut season in the NFL with Cleveland.

"With the Browns, just the work ethic that it took for me to get to each step and the same thing, bringing that here, is what's led me to success in the past, and I'm planning on just continuing to do that and go for success in the future," Schwesigner said.

After taking Schwesinger with the No. 33 overall pick, Browns assistant general manager Glenn Cook said that while Schwesinger only had one season as a starter, his development and trajectory are things that made the Browns confident in taking him where they did.

"It’s definitely a unique evaluation. It’s really…call it nine full plus games because he didn’t start off the season, but when you have a guy like him who just produces — if you look at the production raw and somewhat more advanced — he was just so productive even in his opportunities," Cook said. "There is potentially even more meat on the bone in terms of his development. We’re excited about that. He’s 22 years old. He’s probably got some room to grow, and there’s obviously still things he can improve at, but ultimately what he did show made us really excited about what he could do for our defense.”

Schwesigner said that while some might see his limited experience as a weakness, he views his path as quite the opposite.

"In my college career, I started 10 games, and that was something that came up a lot and some people could have said that was a weakness or a strength. I said, 'Look, I was playing at that level only in the 10 games, and I think I get better with each game.' So for me, I'm just looking to come in— and even with practice, every time I'm out there I want to be better than the day before and because of that I think there's a lot of room for me to improve as the season approaches," said Schwesinger.

Entering the offseason, the Browns had question marks at the linebacker position. After losing him for the season last year with a neck injury, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah's future was up in the air, so the Browns answered one of their questions by drafting Schwesinger. With Owusu-Koramoah now out for the 2025 season, a larger role has opened up for Schwesinger. It's a role he's looking forward to and drawing inspiration from the success Owusu-Koramoah has had with the team.

"I think you just said it best, it means there's opportunity there and really a chance to come in and try and play early and try and make an impact," Schwesinger said. "It helps watching last year, too, and just watching the impact he had. And you can realize the impact he had and that's a spot that, whether it's by committee or by a certain person or what you want to do, just that we still want to be able to make plays in the linebacker room."

While the Browns lean on veterans Jordan Hicks and Devin Bush, while also looking for continued development from standouts like Mohamoud Diabate, the team is also looking forward to seeing Schwesinger have an immediate impact. He's even a candidate to wear the green dot, calling out defensive plays on the field. He's shown potential to be a Week 1 starter.

Schwesinger will have plenty of time this summer to continue building the case for that and continuing to grow, but for now, he's just ready to be able to lay down some hits when training camp begins mid-July.

"When you get back to training camp, that's where — I mean, this is football, but that's where the real ball starts," Schwesinger said with a smile. "It's the dog days, it's being able to come out every day and still go 100%, regardless of how you feel, and we get the pads on, you get to hit, that's real football. That's what linebackers like so that's what I'm excited for."

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