Steelers Draft Maryland S Antoine Brooks, Jr. in 6th Rd

The Steelers drafted their second player from the University of Maryland on Saturday when they selected safety Antoine Brooks, Jr. with the 198th selection in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

A 5-foot-11, 220-pound safety, Brooks was a three-year starter at Maryland, where he broke out at corner as a sophomore in 2017, before moving to safety.

Brooks started 35 games over his final three seasons in College Park, and he made a total of 231 career tackles, with 87 of them coming as a senior in 2019. He also added 27.5 tackles for loss, six passes defended and one interception.

Brooks ran a 4.64 40-yard dash and performed 18 bench press rep and had a 34.5-inch vertical jump in pre-draft testing.

Brooks will join a Steelers safety unit that is looking for depth behind starters Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds. Marcus Allen and Jordan Dangerfield are the incumbent backups.

Earlier in the third day of the draft, the Steelers drafted Brooks’ college teammate, Maryland running back Anthony McFarland, Jr.

The Steelers have a couple of notable ties to the Terps. Quarterbacks coach Matt Canada was the head coach at Maryland in 2018 and Dino Tomlin, the son of Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, was a freshman receiver there in 2019.