Beau Brade

Brade attended River Hill High School in Clarksville, Maryland and in his high school career, he finished with 450 career tackles and also recorded 6 interceptions and 7 forced fumbles. He was named the 2019 Howard County Defensive Player of the Year and was ranked a 3-star recruit by most services. During his senior year, he committed to Maryland over offers from Michigan, North Carolina, West Virginia and Wake Forest. As a freshman in the Covid-19 shortened season, Brade played in all 5 games, primarily on special teams and collected 3 tackles. During his sophomore year, he started to see the field as a rotational sub at the safety position. He appeared in 12 out of the 13 games and finished the season with 14 tackles and 1 sack. Last season, he became the leader of the Terps' secondary, starting all 13 games and leading the team in tackles with 85. He was also a factor in pass coverage, breaking up 5 passes, picking off 2 passes and forcing 2 fumbles. This season, Brade continued his strong play, starting 12 games and tallying 75 tackles, 1 interception and set a career high with 6 passes defended. Brade’s biggest strength as a safety is his willingness and toughness in stopping the run. He understands the angles and plays downhill in pursuit. He is an aggressive tackler who is efficient at wrapping up running backs, but is still able to produce a huge hit from time to time. He has good size and length and has a habit of closing on receivers at the time the ball arrives. He is a smart defender, tracks the ball effectively and regularly highpoints passes. Brade has better than average hands for a defensive back and has the straight line speed to take a pick to the house. On the downside, Brade has given up his share of big plays while at Maryland. He can be moved by a pump fake, leaving his zone open and has moments where he spends too much time engaging with run blockers. He needs to be quicker to use his hands to shed blockers. He is better in man-to-man rather than zone coverage, often failing to recognize cuts and routes. In zone coverage, quarterbacks can move him out of position with their eyes or pump fakes. Watching Beau Brade on film, Draft 412 was reminded of 2022 2nd round pick Bryan Cook out of Cincinnati. They both are hitters and possess the straight line speed to make plays all over the field. Brade, like Cook, has a chance to step into a starting position in the NFL.