BEREA, Ohio — On the final play of the third quarter in the Browns’ 13-10 win over the Green Bay Packers, Carson Schwesinger looked more like a heat-seeking missile than a rookie linebacker.
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Schwesinger began the drive standing around the Green Bay 48-yard line, but as defensive tackle Shelby Harris and edge rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka collapsed the pocket and flushed Jordan Love out to his right, the linebacker made his move.
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Darting downfield, Schwesinger met the Packers’ QB at the Green Bay 33, dropping him for an official loss of 11 yards, and notching his first career NFL sack.
“I think it’s always fun to make a play, but we had basically everyone working together,” Schwesinger said on Wednesday. “He got flushed out of the pocket real fast. We had the pressure up the middle and there was nowhere to go with the ball and so it ended up when the plays coming, you got to make them.”
The hope for Schwesinger, and the other Cleveland rookies who notched their first career tackles on Thursday, is that there will be more plays coming their ways and more chances to capitalize — that these kinds of plays on Sunday were only the beginning.
Schwesinger is off to a stellar start, and according to Pro Football Focus, he has a 69.1 pass rush grade and a 72.0 grade. He would have also had a second sack in the game against the Packers, but it was taken away when the Browns were whistled for having 12 men on the field.
No. 5 overall pick Mason Graham also got into the sack column, recording 0.5 sack that he split with veteran Maliek Collins after the two expertly executed on the second defensive snap of the game.
“It feels good, but I need my first full one,” Graham said after the game Sunday. “We ran a good little stunt there, came free.”
The first full one should be on the way fairly soon considering how well Graham is playing.
Per ESPN, Graham had a 43% pass rush win rate (a metric that shows how often a pass rusher is able to beat his block within 2.5 seconds) against the Packers — the average for DTs is about 9%.
For the season, Graham is ranked eighth among all D-tackles in the same metric, with a 14% win rate.
Graham’s fellow D-line rookie, the undrafted Adin Huntington, also seems poised to make more of an impact in the coming weeks.
He’s played only 37 total defensive snaps, but has also played 10 offensive and has become a staple in the Browns’ jumbo packages. He’s played 35 special teams snaps as well.
On Sunday, he recorded his first 0.5 sack by teaming up with Myles Garrett.
As the Browns star edge rusher came from the right, he was chipped by Green Bay tight end Luke Musgrave, but didn’t lose a step as he made contact with tackle Rasheed Walker.
Walker did everything in his power to slow Garrett down on the play, including trying to hook his left elbow around Garrett’s neck/shoulders.
At the same time, Huntington took advantage of a one-on-one matchup inside, and joined Garrett for the takedown.
“It’s a little hurtful, you know, a half one, but, I’m blessed to have that opportunity to rush on third down” Huntington said with a laugh after the game. “I’ve been working my rush plan like I’ve been saying for the last weeks. And for me to work it, for me to get that sack and help, it’s all about helping the team. So when I go out there, I know I gotta do something to help the team. So that was a blessing for me.”
For the Browns, the early returns from their rookie defenders have been promising — and if the first three games are any indication, their best plays are still ahead.