The New York Jets willingly walked into the 2026 season with one of the youngest rosters in the NFL. Having complemented their young talent with plenty of newly added veterans through free agency and trades, they were confident that the kids would be supported by an ideal ecosystem to facilitate early-career success.
Kenyon Sadiq (21), David Bailey (23), Armand Membou (22), Mason Taylor (22), and Azareye’h Thomas (22) and Omar Cooper Jr. (23) are among the young Jets players who have been entrusted with starting roles this season. All six players were drafted by current Jets general manager Darren Mougey in the last two years.
Each of those players has had their moments in the sun. Most notably, Bailey is the reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week, Sadiq was the AFC Rookie of the Week in Week 3, and Membou is one of the league’s top ascending right tackles.
It might be time, though, for the Jets to let another prized Mougey draft pick have his time to shine: cornerback D’Angelo Ponds.
Is it Ponds time for the Jets?
The Jets selected Ponds with the 50th overall choice in the second round of the 2026 NFL draft, instantly sparking comparisons to a certain prominent figure within the organization.
The Indiana product offers an eerily reminiscent profile to Jets head coach Aaron Glenn when he played for New York. Ponds stands at just 5-foot-8⅝ with very short 29⅜-inch arms, but he offers palpable intensity and excellent ball skills, explaining why he was still drafted in the top 50 despite his small frame.
Ponds seemed to be on track for the Jets’ starting slot cornerback role heading into training camp, but his summer was thrown off by a calf issue that held him out for all of August, costing him his rookie camp and preseason. The injury lingered into September, as Ponds missed the Jets’ season opener.
With Ponds sidelined, the starting slot cornerback role was taken over by Jarvis Brownlee Jr., a 2024 fifth-round pick of the Tennessee Titans whom the Jets acquired in a 2025 mid-season trade.
From the outside, expectations were not high for Brownlee, who struggled mightily with coverage and penalties during his brief stint with the Jets in 2025, despite flashing with his physicality and tackling. However, Glenn spoke highly of Brownlee going into Week 1, generating some optimism about his potential as the Jets’ starter in the slot.
“He has grown and matured so much from last year to this year, and it’s more than just controlling his emotions; it’s how he operates in the meeting room and how he’s become more of a leader within that defensive back room on the standards of how we want to operate,” Glenn said of Brownlee.
Two weeks in, Brownlee was proving Glenn right. Through Week 2, Brownlee looked like a stalwart for the Jets’ defense, allowing just 4 of 8 passes in his direction to be completed for 15 yards. One of those was a short touchdown, but overall, Brownlee held his own in coverage.
Since then, though, Brownlee has come back down to earth. Over the last three games, Brownlee allowed 11 of 15 passes in his direction to be completed for 108 yards and a touchdown.
The stretch was punctuated by a rough outing against the Cleveland Browns in Week 5. Cleveland aggressively targeted Brownlee, completing 6 of 8 passes in his direction for 67 yards, with one of the incompletions being a drop. Brownlee also had a poor blitz rep where he whiffed on an unblocked sack opportunity.
From Weeks 3-5, Brownlee ranked as Pro Football Focus’ 67th-best overall cornerback out of 79 qualifiers (43.9 grade). Even if you include his strong start, he ranks 64th out of 83 qualifiers through Week 5 (60.1 grade), which still isn’t much to write home about.
Meanwhile, Ponds has been slowly worked into the mix. After returning to practice in Week 2, he was a healthy scratch for the Jets’ home opener against the Green Bay Packers. Ponds made his debut in Week 3 and played two defensive snaps before logging 18 in Week 4 after Brownlee briefly exited due to injury, marking Ponds’ first extended appearance. In Week 5, he dropped back down to two snaps.
Brownlee’s recent decline in production begs the question: Should the Jets turn to Ponds?
The question is difficult to answer without knowing how Ponds has looked in practice when it comes to picking up the scheme. On the field, the sample size is extremely limited, but it isn’t pretty.
During his Week 4 appearance, Ponds struggled mightily. Across just 18 snaps, he committed two third-down penalties and allowed a 21-yard reception.
If that was a peek into what Ponds has been showing on the practice field, it makes sense why the Jets have taken things slowly with him and stuck with Brownlee. That was an untenable performance from an NFL cornerback. If Ponds were to play like that as a starter, it would sink the entire defense.
However, it’s also possible that Ponds merely struggled over 18 snaps as a 21-year-old rookie thrown into the fire mid-game in his first extended NFL appearance, playing on the road against a high-level play-caller who knows how to exploit young DBs. Ponds could fare much better if given a week to prepare as a starter, especially after getting some rookie bumps on tape to learn from.
Only the Jets’ coaching staff could answer this question accurately. From the outside, it seems appealing to roll the dice on Ponds, as Brownlee’s performance this season leaves a lot more room for Ponds to be an improvement than a downgrade. However, Brownlee has at least been a serviceable starter, whereas Ponds showed brief glimpses of unplayable production, so the Jets have to make an educated call based on what he has been showing in practice.
Brownlee’s recent struggles have at least opened the window for the Jets to entertain throwing Ponds into the mix in search of an upgrade. If nothing else, the Jets’ decision here will tell us a decent bit about where they believe Ponds stands in his development. If Brownlee continues to underwhelm but Ponds still does not see the field, it suggests that the Jets don’t think he’s ready to see the field yet.
