Brig Owens, the grandfather of Owen Wright, spent twelve years as a safety with the Washington Redskins. Wright was a fan of the Ravens growing up, though. He was certain that they were his team.
“I grew up always watching Ravens football,” Wright said this week. “I was like, ‘Damn, I want to play that kind of football.’ That was the standard.”
Wright is one of two Maryland products pushing to make the Ravens’ 53-man roster. The other is safety Beau Brade, who may have the best chance of any of Baltimore’s undrafted rookie free agents.
In one week, when NFL teams cut their rosters from 90 to 53, they’ll find out whether they get to keep wearing their hometown team’s uniform.
“It really is a dream come true,” Wright said. “It’s been a blessing, a huge blessing, to be here and have this opportunity.”
Wright grew up in Bethesda, Md., and his connection to Baltimore and the Ravens was stoked by playing with Maplewood youth football, the same league that Under Armour founder and CEO Kevin Plank played in as a kid. Plank also went to Georgetown Prep, the same high school Wright starred at with more than 2,000 career rushing yards and 33 touchdowns.
Wright went on to play his college ball at William & Mary, then transferred to Monmouth. During his senior season, he ran for 304 rushing yards and a whopping 16 touchdowns while also playing special teams.
Wright signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent last offseason but didn’t make the 53-man roster out of camp. Those spots went to J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards, Justice Hill, and Keaton Mitchell, another undrafted rookie. Wright spent most of the season on the practice squad while Mitchell became a sudden star.
But with Mitchell rehabbing his surgically repaired knee, there’s currently an open third spot behind Derrick Henry and Hill. The Ravens drafted Rasheen Ali in the fifth round, but Wright has outshined him in training camp practices and the preseason.
Wright had seven carries for 33 yards and hauled in a 17-yard reception in the preseason opener. While he found less running room in the second preseason game, Wright did haul in a short pass and fight through a tackler to reach the end zone
“I feel like I’m playing Ravens football,” Wright said. “I feel like Coach [John] Harbaugh has a standard and we have to play up to that standard. And doing that is going to work out however that may be. I’m ready to help the team in whatever way I can possibly do that.”
Brade has a similar mindset and backstory. Growing up in Clarksville, Md., he played his high school ball at River Hill, about a half hour away from the Under Armour Performance Center. He was the 2019 Howard County Defensive Player of the Year and finished with the second-most career tackles (450) in county history.
His father, who played football at Virginia Tech, was a Redskins fan. Brade and his mother were Ravens fans. Brade’s sports hero is Ray Lewis, and his biggest sports thrill was watching the Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII.
“Man, since as long as I was born, I was a Ravens fan,” Brade said.
Brade stayed local, choosing the University of Maryland over Michigan, North Carolina, West Virginia, Wake Forest, and his father’s alma mater. He was a two-year starter, leading the Terps in tackles both years. He was voted a team captain and was part of forging a new team culture under Head Coach Mike Locksley.
Brade was expected to be an early Day 3 pick. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler had him ranked as his 12th-best safety in the class and a projected late-fourth/early-fifth-round pick. Instead, Brade watched the entirety of Day 2 and 3 of the draft and didn’t hear his name called.
“My head was just spinning. I didn’t know where to go,” Brade said. “But being from Maryland, I was always a Ravens fan. They have the best organization in the world here, best owner, best GM, best coaches. I just feel like this is the best spot for me, a place where I feel like I could make myself better, and I could surround myself with guys around me to make me better. And I just really felt like I could help the team too.”
Brade’s path to the Ravens’ 53-man roster isn’t as clear at Wright’s. Baltimore already has three locks at safety with Kyle Hamilton, Marcus Williams, and Eddie Jackson. Ar’Darius Washington is a near lock.
If the Ravens consider Washington primarily as a safety, they may be set with four. If they see him more as a nickel cornerback and want more safety depth, that could open a spot for Brade or Sanoussi Kane, a seventh-round rookie pick. While Kane was drafted and Brade was not, it has been an open competition.
Brade got off to a slow start because an ankle injury suffered in the first practice sidelined him for much of the spring, but he’s made up ground. In Saturday’s second preseason game against the Falcons at M&T Bank Stadium, Brade led the Ravens with eight tackles and made a diving interception that was overturned on replay.
“Oh, I got it. I definitely got it,” Brade said. “I think they saw like one angle that was a rough angle to look at, like it looked like the ball was in the ground, but I got that.”
Harbaugh said Brade has been a quiet guy until he got into the rookie skit and had the room laughing. He didn’t specify what Brade did.
“That was fun – to see his personality even more,” Harbaugh said. “But yes, he’s stepped up. He’s covered well, but he’s also made some hits – that’s what I’ve enjoyed seeing – both on defense and special teams.”
For players on the proverbial roster bubble, the next week is a final audition. The Ravens have a trip to Green Bay, including a joint practice with the Packers, before their final preseason game. It’s their shot to put an exclamation point on their case. Brade and Wright are taking a mature approach, even with their dreams hanging in the balance.
“I feel great. I had two pretty good games the past two weeks, and I’m really just worried about every day, one day at a time,” Brade said.
“I’m not really worried about what’s going to happen in a week from now or two weeks from now, or what I’m going to be doing Week 1 of the regular season. It’s what I can do each day to become a better player and show the team what I can offer.”
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