Beau Brade NFL Draft Profile

 

Beau Brade Scouting Report

 

 

2024 NFL Draft Measurements

6’1″ / 210 lbs.

Beau Brade 40 Time – 4.50 (estimate)

 

Introduction

According to 247sports, Beau Brade is a former 3-star prospect from Clarksville, MD. He attended River Hill High School where he was ranked as the 24th best player in the state in the 2020 class. Some notable players he was ranked behind include Bryan Bresee, Jordan Addison, and Blake Corum. This status got him a lot of attention from several Division I programs. After only visiting Maryland, it became very clear that he wanted to play for the Terrapins. In his entire 4 year career with Maryland, he racked up 174 total tackles, 1 sack, 3 INTs, 11 PBUs, and 3 forced fumbles. Now let’s get into the Beau Brade scouting report!

 

Strengths

 

Positional Versatility

Beau Brade is a hybrid safety who has a broad skill set that allows him to be effective all over the field. When lined up in zone coverage, he consistently showed that he can be effective at covering all levels. This is due to a combination of mental processing, athleticism, and ball skills. On the other hand, Brade is very good at stopping the run when lined up in the box and in deep zone coverage. This is due to his very good downhill speed and aggressiveness. This kind of versatility reminds me of what I saw when I watched Jalen Pitre in college.

 

Tackling

When watching his film, the first thing that stood out to me was his ability to make tackles all over the field. In open field, he does a good job of using his athleticism, technique, and awareness to chase down the ball carrier and deliver a clean yet powerful hit. Brade also has very good grip strength which allows him to latch onto the ball carrier and bring them down, even if he only has them by the ankle. He also has an aggressive nature which allows him to disrupt short pass plays and bubble screens. However, this has also proven to be a curse to his game as well as a strength. But, I will go into more detail about that here shortly.

 

Zone Coverage

As I briefly mentioned earlier, Beau Brade is a hybrid safety who is effective at stopping the run and zone coverage. Regardless of his assignment and where he is lined up on the field, Brade shows very good awareness and vision. This allows him to know what is around him, where the ball is, and where the QB is looking. By keeping an eye on the QB, he can get a good jump on the ball if it is thrown in his direction. When lined up in deep coverage like cover 2 and cover 3, his athleticism and fluidity allow him to cover lots of ground and make a play on the ball.

 

Stopping the Run

Brade is a natural at disrupting the run all over the field. Regardless of where he is lined up, he often attacks with aggression at the perfect angle. This allows him to consistently stop the run in open field and congested areas. What is most impressive is his ability to keep an eye on the ball carrier and know what angle to attack from even when he is on the opposite side of the field.

 

Weaknesses

 

Pass Rush

This one is less of a weakness and more of a lack of experience. After watching several games of film on Brade, I rarely saw him blitz the QB. When he did, he often attacked from the outside and would attack with too wide of an angle. This would allow the QB to step up in the pocket and get a pass off for a short gain. When lined up as a 4-3 strongside linebacker, he did a solid job of attacking the gaps in the line. If he was able to penetrate the line, the QB did not have much time to scramble outside the pocket.

 

Patience

As briefly mentioned above, Brade’s aggressiveness is a blessing and a curse. Against play action, his aggressive nature often leads to him overcommitting. This often will leave at least one receiver to get open for a big gain deep down the field because he is no longer in his zone. One team that did a good job at exposing this weakness was Ohio State this year. Brade would also benefit from being more patient when stopping the run. There were countless times when watching his film that he missed an easy tackle because he went for a powerful hit. Instead, he should go for a wrap tackle and use his size and grip strength to make plays.

 

Final Thoughts on Beau Brade Scouting Report

Overall, I believe that Beau Brade can be an everyday starting strong safety in the NFL. His zone coverage and ability to know his surroundings while keeping an eye on the QB is very impressive. Additionally, his ability to consistently stop the run at the line of scrimmage would be really helpful for a team that struggles with run defense. If he can work on his patience he will be a very reliable player.

 

Beau Brade Player Comparison

As briefly mentioned earlier, he shows me glimpses of Jalen Pitre. However, I am going to compare him to former Maryland Terrapin and 1st round pick Darnell Savage.

 

Beau Brade Draft Stock

Due to safety not being a very high position of value in the draft, I think Brade will fall to the 4th round. His overall draft stock-to-value ratio reminds me a lot of what I thought of Ji’Ayir Brown vs where he actually got drafted.