There was a time when Brady Christensen didn’t believe himself good enough to play football at BYU.
Now, he’s a professional.
Christensen, a former two-star recruit out of Bountiful High, was selected by the Carolina Panthers with the 70th pick in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft Friday.
“The Panthers must really believe in Christensen, because they passed on a lot of tackles in the second round that were rated ahead of him,” ESPN staff writer David Newton wrote. “That Christensen protected Zach Wilson’s blind side in BYU’s pass-happy offense does fit the mold of what Carolina wants in its pass-happy scheme run by Joe Brady. Christensen’s grade by Pro Football Focus in 2020 was an amazing 96.0. That, by the way, is a record for a PFF tackle... He’s got room to add weight and develop into a starter. The good news is by adding Cameron Erving in free agency, the Panthers don’t have to throw Christensen right into the fire on the left side.”
Christensen’s selection at 70 continues a recent trend for BYU. Bronson Kaufusi was taken with the 70th pick in 2016 by the Baltimore Ravens and Fred Warner was taken with the 70th pick in 2018 by the San Francisco 49ers.
At 6-foot-6 and 305 pounds, Christensen was BYU’s first consensus All-American in football since 2009, an honor he received after his junior season this past fall.
As a redshirt freshman in 2018, he was ranked the second best freshman offensive tackle in college football by Pro Football Focus, and was nominated as a Freshman All-America candidate. And as a sophomore in 2019, Christensen was named the 12th best offensive lineman in the country by PFF, and fifth-best pass blocker.
“A three-year starter at BYU, Christensen started all 38 games the last three seasons for the Cougars,” The Athletic’s Dane Brugler wrote. “Christensen shows efficient movement patterns in his pass-sets, staying balanced at contact to center his block, sink and stay connected. He moves with bounce in his feet and consistent hand placement, but he will have a tough time adjusting to quick, long-armed defenders who get into his body. Overall, Christensen is an older prospect and needs to clean up his timing, but he displays quickness and body flexibility in pass protection and gets the job done as a run blocker. He projects as an NFL starter.”