Highlights of Jets' No. 50 pick at 2026 NFL Draft: CB D'Angelo Hall

TL;DR

The New York Jets selected cornerback D'Angelo Ponds with the 50th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to enhance their defense. Ponds is known for his quickness and coverage skills, aiming to improve a secondary that struggled last season.

Key points

New York Jets selected D'Angelo Ponds with the 50th pick
Ponds is a cornerback from Indiana
He is known for his quickness and coverage skills
The Jets aim to improve their secondary after a poor interception record last season
Ponds joins a cornerback rotation with several other players

Mentioned in this story

NFLIndianaTexas Tech

D'Angelo PondsDavid BaileyBrandon StephensAzareye'h Thomas

The New York Jets continued their addition to the defensive side of the ball on Friday by selecting Indiana cornerback D'Angelo Ponds with the 50th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Ponds is the second player that New York has added in this draft to bolster the defense after taking Texas Tech edge defender David Bailey with the second overall pick.

Ponds is on the smaller side when it comes to NFL cornerbacks, but he makes up for that with his ability to stick to receivers in pass coverage while also bringing infectious energy on every snap. "He is twitchy with very good short-area quickness and does a great job of driving on the ball out of his breaks. Ponds did not showcase great physicality at the line of scrimmage, as he was primarily in bail man coverage," Scouts Inc. wrote on Ponds.

Ponds joins a cornerback rotation with players like Brandon Stephens, Azareye'h Thomas, and Jarvis Brownlee Jr., among others. The Jets made history last season by being the first team in NFL history to go an entire year without recording an interception so the hope is that Ponds will be able to impact the secondary in a way that turns that around significantly.

Until then, here are some of Ponds' highlights so that Jets can get familiar with one of the rookies: