DRAFTED: Round 2, Pick 33
When Schwesinger suffered the dreaded high ankle sprain in Cleveland’s last game of October, there was speculation he could be sidelined for 4-6 weeks. He didn’t miss a game. After recovering during the Browns’ bye, the linebacker played every defensive snap last Sunday, racking up a team-high nine tackles (including two for loss) to go with a pair of QB hits and half a sack. Asked on Monday what this says about the rookie, Kevin Stefanski had a theory.
“He has Wolverine blood, I believe, is what it says,” the head coach declared. “The kid’s playing at an extremely high level. For him to come back from that injury and perform like he did, it was incredible to watch.
“Listen, I have not looked around the league at how other guys are playing, that type of thing, but I’d be hard-pressed to believe there’s a defensive player, as a rookie, that’s playing better than him.”
I agree! Schwesinger leads all rookies in tackles (69), is tied for second in TFLs (six) and has peppered the rest of the stat sheet with production. The run-stuffing is superior to the coverage at this point, but he’s a solid pass rusher. It’s just staggering that this dude joined the UCLA team as a walk-on four years ago.