The Cleveland Browns have a promising crop of rookies.
They finally had plenty of draft picks to work with, and they made the most of them by taking some intriguing prospects.
However, while everybody’s talking about quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, or running back Quinshon Judkins, the team might need another rookie to step up out of the gate.
Dan Labbe of Cleveland.com made a case for linebacker Carson Schwesinger being the rookie who is under the most pressure to perform right away.
“Which rookie has the most pressure?” Labbe wrote. “Second-round pick Carson Schwesinger, however, might be the draft pick they need to hit the quickest. The Browns are relying heavily on Schwesinger and 32-year-old Jordan Hicks, who played well last season but has missed nine games the last two seasons. He’s a pro and will help Schwesinger. If Schwesinger can play early and often, it would help ease the strain on the depth pieces behind him and Hicks.”
The Browns haven’t spent many resources at linebacker, which has never been the most crucial position in coordinator Jim Schwartz’s system.
They don’t have much depth there, and Schwesinger will be asked to embrace a big role.
The Browns had a budding star in Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, but now that his future is a huge question mark after he suffered a neck injury, they likely can’t afford to wait for him.
The fact that they took Schwesinger so high in the 2025 NFL Draft speaks volumes about his importance and their plans for him.
A riser in the pre-draft process, he figures to have the skills, technique and physicality to make an immediate impact.
Of course, he will go through a learning curve and some growing pains like any rookie, but the Browns need him to play like a veteran from Day One.
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