Campen Evaluates Brady Christensen's First Year as a Guard
In 2021, Brady Christensen went through the ebbs and flows of a typical rookie season in the NFL for an offensive lineman. But the previous coaching staff didn't make anything easier for him constantly moving him around trying to find a spot for him to settle in.
Initially, the plan was to keep him at right tackle, then it was well, he might be a guard. Then they gave him a shot at left tackle at the end of the season and in the offseason, said yeah, we think he's best suited to be a guard.
Offensive line coach James Campen came to Carolina last year and helped Christensen make the full-time transition to guard. So earlier this week, I asked Campen how he adjusted to the move and his thoughts on where he is headed.
"He got better and better with each experience. When you get the force up to start all 17 games, he saw a variation of heights, weights -- and that helps a guy inside that's converted from outside to inside because the distance has closed on him. Usually, you're 90% of the time you're blocking a guy who's an edge guy on the open side and there's space. Now everything is right now, it's sudden. He did a really good job of getting better every game. He's out working with us now and he looks good. He's progressed really well."
Nothing has been guaranteed for Christensen since he stepped foot in the league in terms of position or playing time. With Carolina taking Chandler Zavala in the fourth round of the 2023 draft, many believe he will ultimately end up being the replacement for Christensen, who saw his chance at left tackle disappear when they took Ikem Ekownu in the previous draft. Zavala has been locked in at left guard and GM Scott Fitterer told reporters that a big reason why they wanted to draft him was to reunite him with Ickey on the left side of the line.
Assuming Christensen is fully healthy at the start of training camp, he will almost certainly be running with the ones but it will be up to him to keep some distance from Zavala.
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