Brady Christensen's Future at Left Tackle Remains Unclear
A year ago, the Carolina Panthers selected Brady Christensen in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of BYU in an effort to help rebuild the offensive line.
As a rookie, Christensen bounced around all over the place going from right tackle to right guard to left guard, back to right guard, and then over to left tackle to end the season. He never got a chance to truly settle into one spot which played a factor in his development in year one.
Much of this can be blamed on the coaching staff for not knowing exactly what to do with him. Coming out of BYU, he was a true left tackle and had been so his entire playing career. Due to having shorter arms, head coach Matt Rhule wasn't keen on the idea of leaving him at left tackle. He even stated a few times how the coaching staff viewed him as a guard long-term. At the end of the year, Christensen got a chance to start three games at left tackle and held his own.
Despite playing well on the left side, the Panthers still seem to be unsure about his future at the position. Some of this could stem from a very talented draft class of offensive tackles. Given that the Panthers hold the sixth overall pick in the draft, it's likely that one of the top three tackles - Evan Neal, Ikem Ekwonu, or Charles Cross will be on the board. If they take one of those guys, they can kick Christensen inside to guard and their starting five would be set. To be completely honest, where Christensen will line up in 2022 will be dependent on what the team does in next week's draft.
Tuesday afternoon, new offensive line coach James Campen offered some praise for the young versatile lineman, but said it's too early to tell where he will eventually end up.
“The things you see with Brady is he is a very highly athletic guy. He’s quick off the ball, he has good footwork - he has those intangibles. He’s a hard-worker. He doesn’t get disrupted when things are bad. He gets back up and makes the next play. He doesn’t have mental errors or things like that that are real noticeable. He’s a guy that will definitely be pressing just like everyone else for a spot.
"Will he be a candidate at left tackle? He absolutely will, sure," Campen said. "But he’s a unique athlete. He can probably play all five if you really got right down to it. It’s too early to tell if he’s going to be in this position or that position.”
When it comes to Christensen's measurables, Campen doesn't seem all that concerned, basically saying if the boy can play, he can play.
“I kind of look at production. To me, the young man got to play the last three ball games of the season at left tackle and he improved with each outing. I know the Saints have good rushers, Tampa Bay has good rushers, and he improved with each outing. So for me, I do not think that it would be an issue from my standpoint. What I think what coach was saying because we’ve talked about that obviously, what he’s saying is like look, everybody would like to have this and that but not everybody has all that. Those are hard people to find and it’s hard to speculate that. But if a guy is blocking a guy, then hey, does he win? Is he productive? That’s what matters.”
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