Carson Schwesinger, UCLA: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Schwesinger was a recruit from Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, Calif. in the class of 2021

UCLA linebacker Carson Schwesinger began his college career as a walk-on and possibly finished it as an All-American. He hasn’t declared for the 2025 NFL Draft yet, but he would hear his name called in the top 100 selections if he turned pro.

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Carson Schwesinger, LB UCLA: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Redshirt junior middle linebacker from Moorpark, Calif.

Background: Schwesinger was a recruit from Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, Calif. in the class of 2021. He did not receive a star rating or grade out of 100 from any of the major recruiting outlets. Schwesinger walked-on for UCLA. He played on both sides of the ball at Oaks Christian, amassing 268 tackles with 13.0 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, 11 interceptions, 19 passes defensed, five forced fumbles, and five fumble recoveries across four years. He also totaled 115 receptions for 1,670 yards and ten touchdowns. In a five-game senior season, Schwesinger made 14 receptions for 303 yards and four touchdowns and tallied 36 tackles, six interceptions, three passes defensed, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

Injuries & Off-Field: N/A

Awards: 2024 First Team All-Big Ten, 2024 First Team All-American (Associated Press), 2024 Team Captain

Pros: Special teams experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage, and field goal block units, arm length should check the box, impressive speed, springy agility, smooth mover, smooth hips, loose athlete who makes tight turns, flies to the ball, natural at flowing to correct gaps and fitting the run, vision to find paths to the football, patiently waits for lane to the football, speed to shoot gaps and beat linemen to their spots, agility to slip between offensive linemen, peaks gaps and mirrors running backs as they survey them, sifts through the wash to the football, pursuit speed, closing burst, motor runs hot, gets wide to blow up WR screens, squares up to tackle attempts, wrap-up tackler, range in coverage, gains good depth in zone drops, good awareness at the short to intermediate levels, easily takes away tight ends on short routes, speed to maintain inside leverage downfield versus slot receivers, speed and range in coverage to carry RBs out of the backfield, reads the quarterback’s eyes

Cons: First-year starter, high-cut frame, limited sand in the pants, struggles to battle through offensive linemen, removed from plays by climbing linemen, easily displaced by larger blockers, inconsistent ability to stack and shed blocks in a timely manner, bites on misdirection, sometimes overruns pursuit options, not consistent coming to balance as a tackler, sucked downhill by play action, drawn in or held stagnant by eye candy in the backfield, backfield action leads to lapses in coverage, inconsistent instincts and awareness in coverage, sometimes late to recognize and run with vertical threats, late to recognize some developing routes out of the backfield, gets grabby vs. some twitchy pass catchers

Overview: Schwesinger began his career as a walk-on at UCLA. His frame is high-cut with limited mass in its lower half, but his arm length should meet the league’s thresholds. Schwesinger makes up for his lack of power with smooth movement skills, impressive speed, and springy agility. He makes tight turns and sharp adjustments to change directions or mirror elusive players in space. Schwesinger flies to the football with above-average closing burst. His vision and patience help him track running backs early in the play and mirror them from the second level until meeting them in the hole. His agility and quick movements help him peak multiple gaps during the play to mirror the running back’s actions in the backfield. Schwesinger isn’t immune to fitting the wrong gap but usually makes the right decision. The California native lacks the play strength to battle through offensive linemen and struggles to stack and shed larger blockers. Climbing linemen wipe him out of plays when they make solid contact, so he uses his speed and agility to beat linemen to their landmarks or slip between blockers. Schwesinger sifts through muddy boxes to reach the football. He needs to improve his discipline. The redshirt junior bites on misdirection and overruns plays in pursuit. When he has a rare missed tackle, it’s usually because he flies in at full speed and doesn’t come to balance. His motor, speed, and burst give him an excellent pursuit range. Schwesinger gets wide to attack and disrupt wide receiver screens. He’s a threat to hawk down ball carriers from any position on the field. Schwesinger displays excellent range in coverage. He gains impressive depth in zone coverage and brackets slot receivers up the seam with inside leverage. His athletic profile makes him an ideal defender to cover tight ends or running backs. Schwesinger stays aware of receiving threats at the short to intermediate levels and is starting to read the quarterback’s eyes to anticipate throws. His discipline in coverage must also improve. The All-American is sucked downhill by play action and bites on eye candy. His focus on the quarterback and action in the backfield leads to lapses in coverage. Schwesinger’s anticipation and instincts are still developing in coverage, which isn’t surprising for a first-year starter.

Overall, Schwesinger is a lean but extremely athletic first-year starter who shows significant promise in run defense and is still learning to capitalize on his traits in coverage. There’s meat left on the bone for Schwesinger to continue improving in the NFL and become an above-average starter.

Role & Scheme Fit: Weakside linebacker in a 4-3 scheme

Round Projection: Third Round

Size: 6'2", 225 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 12-10-24