Brandon

Cleveland

Cleveland (6’3/307) is a leverage-based interior defender whose middling athletic profile (5.12 RAS) shows up in his play style as a grinder more than a penetrator, but one who consistently controls his gap. He logged 39 tackles with 5 TFL, 2 sacks and 9 run stops in 2025 while posting a strong 92.9% tackle rate and 92.1% run tackle share, underscoring his reliability finishing plays in tight quarters. Cleveland generated just 11 pressures on 257 pass-rush snaps (4.3% pressure rate), as he lacks burst and closing juice, instead relying on hand usage and positioning to muddy the pocket.

Cleveland (6'3"/269) is the 49th DL recruit in the country, and the 49th player out of Florida. He was a four-star for much of his recruitment cycle. He also plays baseball, and played as a stand-up pass rusher in 2020. Cleveland also had offers from Auburn, Miami, LSU and Oregon amongst others, so it’s another top get for North Carolina State.

Cleveland had been committed to the Hurricanes for about half of a year now. A top-250 recruit, per 247 Sports, Cleveland (6'3/260) was just one of Miami’s two 2022 recruits thus far. With Cleveland’s decommitment, Miami is left with just four-star QB Jacurri Brown. Cleveland himself has plenty of other offers to weight now, including Auburn, Florida State, LSU, Oregon, and plenty more.

Cleveland (6'3/260) indicated a month ago that he had begun to zero in on his future program. The seven in contention for his pledge are Florida State, Miami, Auburn, Penn State, South Carolina, Georgia Tech and NC State. A distinctly ACC flair to the Tampa native’s finalists. On the 247Sports composite board, Cleveland ranks as the No. 175 overall prospect in the 2022 class. He is the younger cousin of former Florida WR Tyrie Cleveland, who was selected by the Broncos in the seventh round of April’s NFL Draft.