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:

"AARON GLENN JUST DRAFTED HIMSELF ‼️" 📺: NFLN/ESPN April 23-25 pic.twitter.com/9ttdheQYlw

Indiana CB D'Angelo Ponds is headed to the Jets 🔥Ponds reunites with Indiana teammate WR Omar Cooper Jr. in New York 🤝 pic.twitter.com/1PdGDXptsY

D’Angelo Ponds has some of the most ELECTRIC film of any DB in this year’s class pic.twitter.com/ysTWETKZsw

D’Angelo Ponds is FLUIDThough I wish he ran the 40… pic.twitter.com/6vbCCMH3KH

The Jets just drafted Indiana CB D'Angelo PondsNever forget how he opened the CFP Semifinal 🏈 pic.twitter.com/xO7OdTbtjQ

— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) April 25, 2026

This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: Highlights of Jets' No. 50 pick at 2026 NFL Draft: CB D'Angelo Hall