[Baltimore Sun] Mike Preston: Former Terps, River Hill star Beau Brade leans on faith, work ethic entering NFL draft

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Beau Brade is past the nervous stage of the NFL draft, which begins next week in Detroit. He just wants to get started on his pro career.

As far as he is concerned, it’s time for a new scheme, playbook, home and opportunity.

“It’s all part of a cool process,” said Brade, a Clarksville native and former University of Maryland safety. “It’s been a long process and I’ve been waiting for some time, so I’m just ready to get that full-time job and start playing.

“I’m not nervous anymore. I’m just interested to see where I could end up across the country.”

The consensus on Brade, a former standout at River Hill, is that he will be picked anywhere from the third to the fifth round. That depends on whether there are any “runs” on safeties, which is not as deep of a position as offensive line or wide receiver and is not considered as valuable across the league.

But the two things that stick out about Brade are his work ethic and aggression. He wants to hit. He likes collisions. In the Terps’ 2023 season, the 6-foot, 203-pound safety recorded a team-high 75 tackles, including 48 solo. He also broke up seven passes, forced a fumble and had one interception.

With the draft nearly one week away, Brade has visited the Washington Commanders and the Ravens, who need someone to replace Geno Stone after he signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Like current Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton, Brade can play near the line of scrimmage or off the ball. And like most college players from Maryland, Brade learned the game while studying Ray Lewis, the Ravens’ Hall of Fame middle linebacker.

“I grew up a Ray fan,” Brade said. “He was that guy I tried to be so I tried to hit people hard like Ray Lewis, and I had that work ethic too.”

Maryland safety Beau Brade participated in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, in January. (Butch Dill/AP)

Brade is a Christian and there are no pretenses about his faith. He talks about it openly, and the challenges and temptations he faces in college life these days.

On the field, though, the aggression surfaces. Those who have watched him play consistently this season emphasize his ability to dissect plays and slip into gaps to make tackles. He plays with force, which allowed the Terps’ cornerbacks to be more aggressive knowing that Brade was there on the back end.

But his strength also appears to be his weakness. He doesn’t always take the proper pursuit angles and is vulnerable to giving up big plays off play-action fakes.

Brade also ran the 40-yard dash in 4.68 seconds, which is serviceable but not ideal for playing in the deep third of the field. His versatility is his primary asset.

“I feel like part of my upside is that I’ve had three different defensive coordinators my whole time in Maryland,” Brade said. ”Initially, it was really tough. After my junior year, I started to see the bright side and learn from different coaches that are experts in their crafts.

“I feel like in the long run it made me better, but at the time it was hard to really create a relationship with someone that’s there for less than 12 months.”

Doug Kapustin / Baltimore Sun Media Group

River Hill senior safety Beau Brade was named Howard County football Defensive Player of the Year in 2019. (Doug Kapustin/Freelance)

According to Brade, 17 colleges recruited him out of high school, including several from the Atlantic Coast Conference such as North Carolina, Syracuse and Wake Forest, as well as Big Ten power Michigan. But he chose Maryland because of the school’s business department and because it was close to home.

The Terps originally offered him a spot as a running back before allowing him to play safety. At the time of his graduation, his 450 career tackles at River Hill ranked second in Howard County history.

But it’s the shot at the NFL that has him buzzing, not nervous.

“I believe my faith and my work ethic, which were instilled in me by my parents [Ron and Angela], are my biggest assets,” Brade said. “That’s what has gotten me to this point in my life and really pushes me. I just want a shot with a team that is aggressive and has a shot at winning the Super Bowl.

“The Ravens have been a winning organization for a long time and they have a lot of grit about them. I grew up a big Ravens fan but I’d be happy with anywhere right now. I just want to get to work.”