BYU All-American LT Brady Christensen entering NFL draft

BYU Cougars offensive lineman Brady Christensen (67) in the first half during a college football game against Arizona, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz.

Two days after being named a first team All-American by The Associated Press, BYU Cougars left tackle Brady Christensen announced via Twitter Wednesday that he will skip his senior season and enter his name in the 2021 NFL draft.

THANK YOU BYU!! pic.twitter.com/Igv89VkZz1
— Brady Christensen (@Brady_BYU) December 30, 2020

“My decision is bittersweet because I must leave my teammates, coaches, and friends at BYU,” Christensen wrote in part in a message. “My time at BYU has been nothing short of amazing. Thank you Cougar Nation!”

BYU’s first AP first-team pick since Luke Staley in 2001, the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Christensen regularly received high grades this season from Pro Football Focus as he protected the blind side of star quarterback Zach Wilson and is PFF’s 86th overall prospect, which would make him a third-round pick.

“The highest-graded tackle in the nation so far at 95.5 overall,” PFF has written of Christensen. “He’s barely been tested against BYU’s weak schedule, though seeing him dominate it is encouraging.”

A graduate of Bountiful High, Christensen was recently ranked by ESPN NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. as the ninth-best offensive tackle prospect in the country.

Just a two-star prospect coming out of high school, Christensen was mostly recruited by FCS schools and was committed to Air Force before BYU offered him a scholarship shortly before national signing day in 2015, but became an immediate impact player after returning from a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to New Zealand.

Christensen is looking to become the first Cougars offensive lineman drafted since Scott Young was taken 172nd overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2005. From 1999 through 2005, five BYU offensive linemen were drafted.