OWINGS MILLS — The Ravens like the energy of a pair of rookie safeties — Sanoussi Kane and Beau Brade.
Brade and Kane made the 53-man roster with the expectation that they’ll be contributors in the secondary and on special teams. They beat out defensive back Pepe Williams, a 2022 fourth-round pick, for one of the final spots on the team.
Brade and Kane got better each week of training camp, and they played well in the preseason games.
“I think [Brade and Kane] showed flashes of physicality, both on defense and special teams,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “They’ve shown up here and there, pretty well. [It’s a] big-picture evaluation. Again, you have to see all of the plays to have a feel for that, but they did flash a few times.”
The Ravens are deep at safety with All-Pro Kyle Hamilton, veteran Marcus Williams, newly signed Eddie Jackson and Ar’Darius Washington, who had a couple of interceptions at training camp.
Brade and Kane add depth to the team’s secondary after stellar college careers.
Brade is a local kid who attended River Hill High School in Howard County and the University of Maryland. Brade was an All-Big Ten honorable mention in each of his final two seasons at Maryland.
He started all 12 games in 2023 and led the team in tackles (75) for the second straight season. Brade ranked second on Maryland with six pass breakups, four tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and an interception. He was part of Maryland teams that earned three bowl victories during his time at College Park.
Brade, 6 feet, 203 pounds, was projected to be a third-day draft selection by several pundits, but he was not selected in any of the seven rounds. Brade opted to sign with his hometown Ravens as an undrafted free agent and that proved to be a wise decision.
“I grew up watching the Ravens, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs — that whole defense,” Brade said when he signed with Baltimore. “That’s probably part of the reason why I play how I do.”
The Ravens have now had at least one undrafted rookie make the final roster in 20 of the last 20 years. Brade tied with inside second-year linebacker Trenton Simpson with a team-high 19 tackles in the three preseason games.
Kane, a seventh-round draft pick from Purdue, started 26 games over the last two seasons. He had 161 career tackles, including 11 for loss, broke up 10 passes, and forced three fumbles. Kane was a physical player throughout training camp and had 10 tackles in the three preseason games.
“I think he’s got good ball skills, [he] should play on special teams,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said when Kane was drafted. “He’s a guy that [director of college scouting] David [Blackburn] can talk more about – some of the scouts really liked him, and [defensives back coach] Doug Mallory really liked him as well and had a chance to come here to Baltimore and visit with us.”
