2021 NFL Draft: Sleeper Brady Christensen ready to make himself known
By Loren Miller
Brady Christensen is taking his game to the next level
Brigham Young University junior left tackle Brady Christensen announced Wednesday via his Twitter account that he will forego his senior season and enter the 2021 NFL Draft. Christensen leaves BYU after a standout season for the Cougars garnering multiple first-team All-American honors and leading his team to an 11-1 record.
Pro Football Focus rated Christensen as the number one offensive tackle this past season.
Christensen was an outstanding blindside blocker for potential top-five pick, Zach Wilson, in 2020, only allowing three pressures in pass-blocking snaps. Wilson and the Cougar offense finished the season averaging 43.5 points and 522.2 yards per game.
Get to know the BYU OT
At 6-foot-6 300 pounds Christensen came to BYU as a two-star athlete according to 247 Sports and developed into one of the best offensive linemen in the country under the mentorship of one of the best offensive line coaches in BYU offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes.
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Christensen is an older prospect after serving a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New Zealand. He will be already 23 years old when the draft will take place in Cleveland in April.
With his age and already producing a great amount of film for teams to look over, Christensen is making a wise decision to leave now.
What might be a negative to Christensen is the level of competition that he excelled against in 2020 but you cant really blame the Cougars for showing up and playing whoever they can schedule as an independent.
Regardless of the schedule, you can’t ignore the protection he provided for Wilson and his ability to stay on the field and stay away from injury or poor play. He started all 12 games as a junior and all 13 games as as sophomore in 2019.
What is the draft outlook of Brady Christensen
I expect him to be a day two pick or at the latest an early day three pick. He could rise In the draft process though and a team could fall in love with him. Maybe a team like the Seahawks or Texans who lack draft picks in the first couple of rounds would take Christensen in the third or fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Christensen won’t be the last BYU Cougar to declare, we should expect Wilson to declare any day now. There might even be one or two more players who could surprise us and put their name in the draft process.