Carson

Bruener

A five-year grinder for the Huskies, Bruener capped off a productive college career with back-to-back 80.0+ PFF grades and a team-high 104 tackles in 2024. A throwback Mike ‘backer with old-school instincts and sideline-to-sideline urgency, Bruener diagnoses plays quickly and flows to the ball with impressive urgency (82.7 DEF grade, 74.8 tackling). Despite only one full season as a starter, he logged 197 tackles and 40 stops over the last two years, showing he’s always around the ball. His 8.85 RAS shows explosive agility (6.77 3-cone, 4.24 shuttle), but average size (6’0/227) and middling play strength limit his take-on ability at the next level. NFL teams will love the four-phase special teams value (23 career ST tackles) and coachable football IQ. While Bruener won’t wow with flash, he projects as a high-floor, low-ceiling inside linebacker who earns a living in the league as a core special teamer and depth LB.

Bruener is the son of former Husky TE Mark Bruener, who was a first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers who played from the NFL from 1995-2008. This is not just a case of nepotism, of course, as Carson is rated the 38th best inside linebacker in the class by 247Sports, and the 10th best player in the state of Washington (Redmond HS). He also had offers from schools like Wisconsin, Oregon, and Boise State; just to name a few. Washington will lose a few inside linebackers in 2019, so the 6-foot-2, 205-pound linebacker could compete for playing time early in his time with Washington.