2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Carson Schwesinger

Strengths:

• Football IQ: A smart, athletic linebacker with loose hips and excellent speed who consistently breaks on throws before the ball is out.
• Motor Runs Hot: Schwesinger always seems to be around the football. His contagious energy jumps off the tape.
• WR Instincts: As a former wide receiver, he instinctively anticipates routes as they develop behind him.
• No Space, No Problem: Efficiently navigates traffic in tight quarters, escaping congestion smoothly and taking good angles to the football.
• Impactful Blitzer: Good hand usage makes him highly effective when rushing the passer, with 18 pressures and four sacks on only 62 pass-rush snaps.
• Slippery: He uses his speed and hand-fighting technique to shed blockers quickly against the run. Schwesinger has a knack for making blockers miss and getting into the backfield, ranking 35th in run stop percentage amongst 199 qualifying LBs.

Weaknesses:

• SMALL: Listed at 6'2", 225 pounds, I am not sure Schwesinger's frame can support much additional mass.
• Scheme Fit: His schematic versatility will be restricted, making him valuable only to specific defensive coordinators.
• Inexperienced: He has only played 806 snaps in his college career.
• Play-Action Coverage: He throws caution to the wind against play-action throws, allowing tight ends easy peel-off routes in space. Schwesinger is over-eager to stay ahead of run blocks, making it difficult to regain ground in coverage.
• Push the Pile: He lacks pop as a tackler, making him a nonfactor in short-yardage situations unless he gets clean access into the backfield.
• Going for a Ride: Despite excellent hand-fighting technique, Schwesinger gets walked down the field when blockers get him squared up.

Final Thoughts and Bears Fit for Carson Schwesinger:

I might be stretching things with this one, but Carson Schwesinger's tape is too impressive to overlook. He is always around the football, plays with infectious energy, and has the athletic traits and determination to succeed in the NFL. Although his size presents some limitations in his prospect profile, the impact of the tape is too significant to disregard.

At his ceiling, Schwesinger is a chaos-creating Swiss army knife similar to Ivan Pace Jr. or Drue Tranquill. At his floor, he serves as a reliable special teams contributor and a likely glue guy in the locker room.

For the Bears, I can see everything from a top 100-type grade to an undrafted grade. I would love to see Dennis Allen take a player like Schwesinger and use him as a mismatch-maker in the middle of the defense. In the past, Allen preferred to employ multiple fronts and positionally versatile players at linebacker, but Schwesinger represented a different mold from Zach Baun and Pete Werner.

However, Schwesinger may be a better fit for a linebacker-safety hybrid role, similar to how Tyrann Mathieu was utilized as a box defender. There are possibilities with a player like Schwesinger, but the key question will be whether Allen wants to take his defense in that direction.

Pro Comp: Ivan Pace Jr. or Drue Tranquill