Browns' Carson Schwesinger Wins 2025-26 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award

Cleveland Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger was named the 2025 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year on Thursday, besting Seattle Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori, Atlanta Falcons edge-rusher James Pearce Jr., New York Giants' edge-rusher Abdul Carter and Atlanta Falcons safety Xavier Watts.

Carson Schwesinger was the heavy favorite for the award, finishing sixth in the NFL in tackles (156) to go along with 2.5 sacks, two interceptions and three passes defensed.

As Dane Brugler of The Athletic noted, "He was the only NFL player this season with 150-plus tackles, 11-plus tackles for loss and two or more interceptions, and he was the first since Roquan Smith in 2022 to hit all those milestones in the same season."

Not too shabby for a second-round pick, and even better when you consider that Schwesinger was once a walk-on at UCLA. Now he's one of the best defensive players on a Browns' unit that includes superstar Myles Garrett.

"I saw it early," Browns safety Grant Delpit told ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi in December. "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."

It's not often that a rookie also operates as the defensive playcaller in the huddle, but Schwesinger took on that role for the Browns.

"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," defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz told Oyefusi. "... 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."

It also isn't often that the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award is this cut and dry, but Schwesinger pretty clearly ran away with the honors.

Emmanwori (81 tackles, 2.5 sacks, one interception, 11 passes defensed), Pearce (10.5 sacks), Carter (four sacks, 23 quarterback hits, seven tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries) and Watts (96 tackles, five interceptions) each had fantastic debut seasons as well.

But Schwesinger was on a different level.