One early-season move last year by UCLA defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe paved the way for two NFL futures.

In the third game of the season at Louisiana State, the Bruins started Carson Schwesinger, a former walk-on, at linebacker and moved Oluwafemi Oladejo to the edge in a move that was in the works during fall camp.

Schwesinger never left the starting lineup again, and seven months later he was the first player taken off the board Friday in the second round of the NFL draft.

Schwesinger was selected 33rd overall by the Cleveland Browns.

Schwesinger’s decorated 2024 season led to Associated Press first-team All-American honors and second-team recognition from the American Football Coaches Association and Walter Camp. The all-Big Ten first-team selection was also a finalist for the Butkus Award.

“What he’s done this past season was undeniable, for sure,” Browns assistant general manager Catherine Hickman told reporters after the selection.

He recorded 136 tackles — ninth-most in UCLA single-season history — and his nation-leading 90 solo stops were the most by a Big Ten defender during the regular season in at least the last 22 years.

Nineteen picks later, Oladejo went to the Tennessee Titans at No. 52.

Oladejo made 57 tackles — 13 1/2 for a loss — along with 4 1/2 sacks, two pass break-ups and six quarterback hurries in 2024.

An exceptional athlete at 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, he made the seamless transition to what he considered a more natural position.

Oladejo started 27 of 46 games over the last two seasons for the Bruins after transferring from California.