Carson Schwesinger has become the defensive anchor for the Cleveland Browns. The second-year linebacker out of UCLA has played a huge role in the Browns starting the 2026 season 5-2, and is in the same category as some of the greats of the 21st century.
In his first 23 NFL games, Schwesinger has recorded 209 tackles in his first 23 career regular-season games — second-most by any defender who debuted in 2013 or later, trailing only Paul Worrilow's 211. Also in that mix are names like Roquan Smith and Deion Jones.
| # | player name | tackles first 23 games |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Worrilow | 211 |
| 2 | Carson Schwesinger | 209 |
| 3 | Cedric Gray | 204 |
| 4 | Shaquille Leonard | 197 |
| 5 | Alex Singleton | 195 |
| 6 | Leighton Vander Esch | 187 |
| 7 | Alexander Johnson | 177 |
| 8 | Devin White | 173 |
| 9 | Deion Jones | 171 |
| 10 | Roquan Smith | 171 |
Methodology
Frozen rows from a deep-dig claim verified server-side on 2026-10-27. The SQL ran read-only in the dig sandbox against the canonical corpus and is recorded for review; it is never re-executed. WITH g AS (SELECT w.player_id, w.player_name, w.def_tackles_solo + w.def_tackle_assists AS tk, w.defense_snaps, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY w.player_id ORDER BY w.game_date) AS rn FROM player_week_stats w JOIN players pl ON pl.player_id=w.player_id WHERE w.season_type='REG' AND pl.rookie_season>=2013 AND w.defense_snaps>0) SELECT player_name, SUM(tk) AS tackles_first_23_games FROM g WHERE rn<=23 GROUP BY 1 HAVING COUNT(*)=23 ORDER BY tackles_first_23_games DESC LIMIT 10
Schwesinger's pace is shockingly down from his rookie season, even as the volume has gone up. His 13.45 tackles per 100 snaps in 2026 is almost two fewer than he did in his rookie season. In 2025, he averaged 15.38 tackles per game. Schwesinger is on the field for about 66 snaps per game, while last season he was on the field for about 60.
Among defenders with 400 or more defensive snaps in the 2026 regular season through Week 7, Schwesinger ranks eighth in tackles per 100 snaps at 13.45; Alex Singleton leads at 16.41.
| # | player name | snaps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Singleton | 512 |
| 2 | Ernest Jones | 432 |
| 3 | Fred Warner | 452 |
| 4 | Nakobe Dean | 469 |
| 5 | Akeem Davis-Gaither | 409 |
| 6 | Nick Bolton | 409 |
| 7 | Anthony Hill Jr. | 490 |
| 8 | Carson Schwesinger | 461 |
| 9 | Roquan Smith | 433 |
| 10 | Arvell Reese | 438 |
Methodology
Frozen rows from a deep-dig claim verified server-side on 2026-10-27. The SQL ran read-only in the dig sandbox against the canonical corpus and is recorded for review; it is never re-executed. SELECT player_name, team, SUM(defense_snaps) AS snaps, SUM(def_tackles_solo + def_tackle_assists) AS tackles, ROUND(100.0*SUM(def_tackles_solo + def_tackle_assists)/SUM(defense_snaps),2) AS tackles_per_100 FROM player_week_stats WHERE season=2026 AND season_type='REG' GROUP BY 1,2 HAVING SUM(defense_snaps)>=400 ORDER BY tackles_per_100 DESC LIMIT 10
Extending back to Week 14 of 2025, Schwesinger has played 11 straight games where he played 100% of snaps. After suffering a Grade 3 high ankle sprain during Week 8 of 2025, he missed one game before returning to the field.
He hasn't looked back since.
Schwesinger is no stranger to making impact plays this season. The difference between his rookie season and this season is his volume. The two forced fumbles through six games are double what he had last year, and both came in back-to-back weeks against the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens.
Cleveland's Week 5 loss to the Jets was a one-man show: eight tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble.
Cleveland is 5-2 and allowing 20.9 points per game, 12th-best. Take the 34-point blowout Week 1 loss in Jacksonville away, and it is 18.7 over the last six. The Week 6 win over Baltimore was Schwesinger at his best, recording 13 tackles.
| # | week | tackles |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 5 | 5 | 8 |
| 6 | 6 | 13 |
| 7 | 7 | 8 |
Methodology
Frozen rows from a deep-dig claim verified server-side on 2026-10-27. The SQL ran read-only in the dig sandbox against the canonical corpus and is recorded for review; it is never re-executed. SELECT week, def_tackles_solo + def_tackle_assists AS tackles FROM player_week_stats WHERE player_id='00-0040579' AND season=2026 AND season_type='REG' ORDER BY week
The Browns travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers on Sunday in the division's oldest rivalry. They have the opportunity to start the season 6-2 with a win and be the lone member atop the AFC North.
The last time the Cleveland Browns started a season 6-2 was in 1994, when Bill Belichick was head coach and Nick Saban was the defensive coordinator. How about that?