With the 198th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected former Maryland safety Antoine Brooks Jr. on Saturday afternoon. The Steelers used the 19th pick in the sixth round on Brooks, who was the second Terps prospect to be drafted this year.

A three-year starter in Maryland’s secondary, Brooks earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors as a junior and senior and was named the Terps’ most valuable player in 2019.

Brooks, who participated in the Reese's Senior Bowl, led Maryland in tackles as a senior with 87 and was second on the team in tackles for loss with 8.5. He also led the Big Ten and was ninth in the country, averaging 5.8 solo tackles per game. He was the highest-graded safety in run-defense according to Pro Football Focus.

Playing all over the secondary and in the box at times, the 5-foot-11, 220-pound hard-hitting safety tied for the team lead with five pass breakups as a senior.

Brooks is the second Maryland player taken by the Steelers in this year’s draft, joining former Terps running back Anthony McFarland. The Steelers have several connections to the Maryland program with head coach Mike Tomlin’s son Dino having been a freshman for the Terps this past season as well as Steelers quarterbacks coach Matt Canada, who served as the Terps’ interim head coach in 2018.

Brooks is one of three Terps safeties drafted in the last five years, joining Sean Davis (2016) and Darnell Savage Jr. (2019).