Swept wing itself goes back, yes, but when they designed the 262 it was originally with a straight wing. So was the He280. So was the 162. So was the ar234, the me328, the 109 airframe they wanted to fit with 262 engine pods (if the 262 wasn't ready in time -- but was scrapped because the 262 was ready). They swept the wing back for practical reasons. I think it might have had to do with the engine available, and needing to shift that engine further back (so they swept the wing back moving that engine's weight further back over the center of gravity).
After that practical reason for sweeping the wings they found it helped a bit with top speed and so forth, and used it in some very late designs. Up until then they saw little merit in swept wings.
