Carson Schwesinger already nominated for his first NFL award

Only three weeks into this young season, the Cleveland Browns' rookies have been showing out and often. After the win on Sunday against Green Bay, it was only right that one of those rookies got some national shine.

That rookie is linebacker Carson Schwesinger, as he has been nominated for NFL Rookie of the Week. You can vote for Schwesinger here.

Schwesinger was nominated along with Los Angeles Chargers running back Omarion Hampton, New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo, Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tory Horton, and Washington Commanders wide receiver Jaylin Lane.

In the Week 3 win, Schwesinger totaled ten tackles, two quarterback pressures and a key sack on third down, forcing the Packers to punt away the ball to start the fourth quarter. Schwesinger led the team in total tackles and solo tackles (7) on Sunday.

Going into the season for the Browns, the linebacker position was somewhat unspecified. But with the Browns drafting Schwesinger with the first pick in the second round, most fans understood the significance of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s neck injury. It was announced in May that JOK would miss the entire 2025 season, placing significant pressure on Schwesinger to step in and perform early.

Schwesinger has stepped in seamlessly, though. After the ten combined tackles on Sunday, it brought his season total to 23 in his first three games of his career. This should not be a surprise, though, as in his Junior year at UCLA, he racked up 136 combined tackles, 90 solo tackles, and four sacks in just 12 games.

If Schwesinger were to win the award, he would be the first Browns player to win since Jedrick Wills won it in Week 10 of the 2020 NFL season. The Browns have had 17 total players win the award since its creation in 2002, highlighted by the 2018 season, in which Cleveland won 11 of the 17 awards given out each week. Those winners included Baker Mayfield (7), Denzel Ward (2), and Nick Chubb (2).

Head coach Kevin Stefanski raved about Schwesinger after drafting him and throughout the preseason, the rookie lived up to his coach's expectations.

“He’s been very aware, and the ball seems to find him," Stefanski said. "He does a nice job of running a defense, which is not easy for a young player.”

That’s also been the extremely impressive part of Schwesinger, being able to run the defense and have that green dot on his helmet at such a young age. He has been a vital part of the Browns' shutdown run defense, which is leading the NFL in rush yards allowed per game at 57.3, and has only allowed one rushing touchdown, which occurred in week one.

The competition to win the award is stiff, as the other nominees all produced well on the offensive side of the ball, scoring touchdowns and accumulating 100+ all-purpose yards. But none of them are running the best run defense in the NFL, and a top-five pass defense as a rookie. The Week 3 Rookie of the Week will be announced on Thursday.