As a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft out of Washington, rookie linebacker Carson Bruener came into the offseason with the Black and Gold facing an uphill battle to potentially grab a 53-man roster spot.
The best way for him to earn that roster spot was always going to be through special teams.
On Saturday night in the preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Bruener had a strong showing, finishing with six tackles, including three on special teams. Though his defensive grade from Pro Football Focus was just 45.8 in 23 snaps, Bruener had a 75.4 grade from PFF on special teams.
That’s where his presence was felt the most. In a roster battle with fourth-year linebacker Mark Robinson, who has had a strong training camp to date, Bruener needs to make plays on special teams to try to force his way onto the roster. Saturday night was a great start for the Washington product.
Let’s take a look at the film.
Lined up just off the hashmark on the kickoff in the traditional L4 position, Bruener made his impact felt immediately on the game’s opening kickoff.
Bruener does a nice job of staying in his lane and maintaining his position to keep the integrity of the coverage unit on the inside. Then, as he makes contact with the blocker, he’s able to look through the block, see where the returner is going, and then gets off the block.
From there, he’s able to make the play for the tackle on the kickoff return.
Later on in the first half, Bruener made another play on a kickoff.
Lined up in the same position as before, Bruener again shows the ability to work off a block and get in on the stop.
He does a good job of staying outside and maintaining his gap. But like the linebacker he is, he uses his hands to toss aside the blocker, and then gets his head into the mix for the special-teams stop.
Lined up out wider on a later kickoff, Bruener flashed his speed and range to get into the mix on the special-teams tackle.
He tested pretty well coming out of Washington. He clocked a 4.58 40-yard dash at his Pro Day and had some good range on tape. It was good to see that show up here in kick coverage, as he was able to run around his blocker and close in for the tackle.
Effort and physicality will never be questioned with Bruener. He has a ton of special-teams experience from his time at Washington, too, so playing on teams has to be like riding a bike for him.
Defensively, Bruener was around the football a lot, which was encouraging. The moment didn’t seem too big for him, and he was able to make some plays.
Good eyes to flow here with the run play and maintain his gap. He stays square to the line of scrimmage while closing down on the blockers, cutting the distance in between.
At the same time, he’s able to stay relatively clean, find the football and get in on the tackle with fellow linebacker Devin Harper. It’s an encouraging rep against the run for the rookie.
Later on in his playing time, Bruener had a nice stop in space on a swing pass.
Typically, this play is designed to get a running back one-on-one in space against a linebacker, giving the offense a potential mismatch. But Bruener thrived in these types of situations in college.
He’s a good athlete who is fundamentally sound and tackles really well.
The rookie doesn’t overplay this at all. He closes the yardage down to the point of contact with good technique and then wraps up for the tackle, getting the running back down for a short gain.
Though he did give up a 25-yard reception to tight end Quentin Morris later in the game, Bruener had great coverage on the play and ran step for step with the veteran tight end.
The defensive reps were encouraging, but the work on special teams really stood out for Bruener. He was in on the play consistently and made the stops when he was around the ball. That’s his path to the roster, and Saturday night was a good step in the right direction for him.
