D'Angelo Ponds was the anchor of the Indiana Hoosiers' secondary en route to the program's dominant National Championship run. He shut down opposing receivers week in and week out, and enters the 2026 NFL Draft as one of the top projected cornerbacks in the class.
A Chaminade-Madonna (FL) graduate in the class of 2023, Ponds committed to the James Madison Dukes out of high school. He spent his first collegiate season with JMU, ascending to one of the Sun Belt Conference's top defensive backs in the process. He entered the transfer portal during the 2024 offseason, following head coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana, where he spent the remaining two years of his college football career.
D'Angelo Ponds NFL Draft Profile:
Statistics:
- 2025: 60 tackles, 2 INT, 10 PBU, 1 FF
- Career: 167 tackles, 7 INT, 31 PBU, 1 FF
Strengths:
Aggressive rotational tackler with solid knowledge of how to use his body and momentum to consistently bring down ball carriers much larger than himself.Sticky run defender, will get driven off the play in traffic but has some success against weak side concepts where he can fire his hips and drive in.Technical fighter through physical routes, solid recovery through re-establishing his base, and doesn’t get too grabby.Good awareness of the sideline and knowledge of how to navigate it, allowing him to vary his physicality and play bigger than he is when the WR has less space to work with.Initial footwork is solid, can slide into his quick backpedal, and keeps his pad level consistent.Moves well with his hips open and can glide through his transitions to stay athletically engaged.Strong grip strength on tackles and gets very sticky.Good match technique, especially on the outside, will mirror WRs well and keep his hips engaged.Re-establishes his feet quickly and rarely loses his balance in man coverage.Extends himself well when closing out tackles, positions himself technically, and maximizes contact imbalance.Disciplined transitions in zone with multiple routes near him, will choose where to attack wisely, and doesn’t often overcorrect.Impressive footwork to drop into his hips and cut back against comeback routes.Weaknesses:
Will get rounded and overadjust to some comeback concepts and try to bite horizontally, taking some rough routes to the catch point.Will often get overpowered by most blockers and doesn’t have the lower body strength or size to stick down and hold his ground.Needs to be careful in press-man coverage against vertical routes, especially in shorter yardage situations (Red Zone), and can get driven off his base by WRs willing to get physical.Needs to understand his lower physical standing at times, with little safety help, especially in off-man, can be blown by by athletically-imposing WRs.Will widen his base too early at times instead of staying in his backpedal, giving him less time to adjust and adapt to downfield concepts.Can leave his eyes too far in the backfield at times and might get moved off his assignment on RPOs and longer developing plays.Occasionally gets bouncy in Cover 2 and flat zone concepts, tries to bait and time his cutbacks but needs to stay engaged.Hands will be late or slow at times, especially against more physical wideouts.NFL Outlook:
Ponds is the classic example of a defender who plays far beyond his size, but a rare case of one who has the technical skills to back it up. He’s a scrappy, but disciplined DB whose value only grows with the NFL’s reinvention of the use of receivers in the slot. Ponds can match up against most athletic profiles and should easily be a Day 2-worthy selection who can immediately improve any team’s secondary. He may be limited in some matchups, but he has the potential to be a longer-term CB2 solution, especially if he lands in the right scheme.
NFL Player Comparison
At the pro level, Ponds' ideal outcome will likely be a career path similar to former Seattle Seahawk and current New York Jet DJ Reed. Both players came into the league as undersized corners with impressive athletic and technical ability, and Reed built himself a respectable career as a primary slot corner. If Ponds can refine some of his instincts and coverage skills, he could reach similar heights as Reed, who has been one of the NFL's premier Nickels for several years.
Prospect Grade:
