Ask the Old Guy: Super Bowl memories

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Food for thought: I’ve got two questions for you. First, what do you think about keeping Brady Christensen at left tackle, as he held his own last three games, grab a free agent guard, trade the pick, filling other needs and use the pick on a middle linebacker we so desperately need? Second, which do you prefer: Eastern Carolina sauce or South Carolina sauce? Last question is most important lol — David, Farmington, MO

Again with the food questions. I feel seen.

Actually, this may border on the kind of discussion of religion you’re not supposed to have at a football party, because people get all worked up about their sauces. I prefer a simple vinegar-and-red pepper flake sauce as is indigenous to the Eastern half of North Carolina, as I like the way the acid and heat cuts the richness of a smoked pork shoulder. But some people prefer the mustardy kind, and even though that’s not my deal, I want everybody to be able to be happy with what they enjoy, as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody.

(Also, when I was in Mobile last week, we stopped for a meal at Dreamland BBQ, at the suggestion of my brother, the barbecue judge [He judges for sport, and not just at smoked meat competitions. He can be a lot sometimes, but we love him]. Asked our server if I could get some sauce to take home, and she comes to the table with a huge jug, asking me if this was the amount I wanted. Apparently, I look like a guy who consumes barbecue sauce a gallon at a time.)

The Christensen as tackle-or-guard question could also inspire a kind of religious fervor this offseason, and it’s an important one.

There are a couple of important facts to remember. One, free agent left tackles are worth it, but they’re super-expensive. So if the goal is to get a lot of other stuff, I could understand signing a good free-agent guard, and letting Christensen stay at tackle for now.

But if one of those top three tackles (Evan Neal, Charles Cross, Ikem Ekwonu) is there at six, I think you have to take one of them. After being a pick away from Penei Sewell falling into their laps last year, it will be painful if all three of those guys are gone before the Panthers pick (though it could easily happen). If I’m the GM (and they haven’t let me be yet), I try not to overthink it. If a top tackle is there, take him, and let Christensen become his Travelle Wharton for the next few years. That worked out OK in the past, but it was a long time ago.