Carson Schwesinger went from walk-on to AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year

Carson Schwesinger walked on at UCLA, was passed up in the first round of the draft and ended up winning the AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award with the Cleveland Browns in 2025.

He’s already being compared to Hall of Famer Luke Kuechly .

“Every time you get referenced in the same breath as somebody you’ve looked up to and model your game after, it is obviously an honor,” Schwesinger said on AP’s “On Football” podcast. “I have only played one season, so we may have to chill out on that a little until I do a whole lot more to get to the level that he was at when he was playing. And I think just what he was so good at, I mean basically everything, but he’s known for his preparation and so I think that’s a big part of the linebacker position and that’s a really big part of what I want to be able to try and emulate when I go out onto the field.”

Fifteen defensive players were selected before the Browns chose Schwesinger with the first pick of the second round in last year’s NFL draft.

He became an instant starter for the Browns and had 156 tackles, 2 1/2 sacks and two interceptions in 16 games playing in defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s system. Mike Rutenberg has replaced Schwartz, who left after he didn’t get the head coach job that went to Todd Monken.

“There’s always going to be adjustments year to year, even regardless of if there’s changes or not,” Schwesinger said. “Obviously with our style of defense, we still have a very similar style and that front’s going to go attack and you just have small changes here or there to really try and put the best rushing coverage together that work the best together.”

The Browns traded two-time AP Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Rams in June so they have a big void to fill on a defense.

“You can’t, obviously, replace a player of that caliber, but just this defense as a whole, the staff, every single player we have on there has really been able just to come together,” Schwesinger said. “We really believe in what we have here and what we’ve got going and the goal every day is to go out there and be the best defense in the NFL and I’m really proud with how this unit goes and attacks every day to get better.”

Cleveland had the league’s fourth-best defense last season but still finished 5-12 mainly because the offense struggled behind Shedeur Sanders, Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel. Sanders went 3-4 in seven starts but lost to Deshaun Watson in the competition for the starting job in training camp this summer.

“All the quarterbacks on our roster can run that offense and know what to do,” Schwesinger said. “As a defensive player, that’s all you can ask for is go out there and run the show on offense, right? And I think all those guys are capable of it. And defensively, our whole mindset is, if they don’t score, they don’t win anyway. So, we’ve got whole faith in whoever is out there. We know that, at the end of the day, we’re just gonna go out and do our jobs on the defense side of the ball and the offense will handle theirs.”

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