Six games into the regular season, all three of the New York Jets’ first-round rookies, David Bailey, Kenyon Sadiq, and Omar Cooper Jr., have all delivered signature games.
That’s pretty impressive for the top of Darren Mougey’s 2026 draft class.
Fourth-round rookie Darrell Jackson Jr. has also made a strong impression early on, making his case for more snaps in the Jets’ defensive tackle rotation.
However, not every single rookie has enjoyed that level of success. In particular, second-round cornerback D’Angelo Ponds has undergone a rough transition into the pros so far.
Ponds’ rough start to the season
When the Jets selected Ponds in the draft, it made sense. Despite his smaller frame, he has the athleticism and playmaking ability to be a difference-maker in the NFL.
But over six weeks, he has struggled. Ponds has earned a 26.7 overall grade at Pro Football Focus, which ranks dead last among 163 cornerbacks to play a snap this season. On just 17 coverage snaps, he has allowed three receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown on four targets in his direction.
Against the New England Patriots on Sunday, he played just five coverage snaps and was targeted three times. That’s a 60% target rate, which is unusually high. Ultimately, it indicates that the Patriots were willing to pick him apart when he was on the field.
There hasn’t been much to be encouraged about. His signature play could have come in Week 4 against the Chicago Bears, when he came up with an interception that was negated due to a hold on himself.
Look, it’s not even close to time to panic about Ponds. He’s played just 34 defensive snaps all season, and that is nowhere near a large enough sample size to make a concrete evaluation.
Obviously, it would be much more promising if the narrative around Ponds matched the first-round picks, who have each already had big games so far this year. Ponds still hasn’t had that game, or even moment, yet.
At this point, the Jets need to find a way for Ponds to develop without putting him in situations where he is just getting peppered with targets, like he was against the Patriots.
It’s also important to remember he is settling into a new position. He has moved into a slot cornerback role, and he’s been out on the field, playing 15 of his 17 coverage snaps at that position. Meanwhile, at Indiana last season, Ponds played just four slot snaps.
Given his size, at 5-foot-9 and 182 pounds, moving him into the slot makes sense, and the Jets lack a proven presence at slot cornerback, despite the flashes from Jarvis Brownlee Jr. However, a learning curve still comes with playing a new position.
Furthermore, the rookie missed all of the preseason, almost the entirety of the summer, and the first two weeks of the season due to injury. So he was already tasked with learning a new position as a first-year NFL player, and his summer was pretty much erased; he even missed Weeks 1 and 2.
The Jets can’t afford to trot Ponds out on the field when games matter, when he just hasn’t yet proven he can hold his own in coverage. Despite the small sample size, he hasn’t shown anything that warrants more snaps.
I’m not advocating for Ponds to get all the reps in the world this season; he should have to earn those opportunities. At the end of the day, though, you need a much larger sample size to sign off on Ponds’ verdict, especially with the injury context and the new position he is learning.
New York has already seen plenty of positive signs from the top of the rookie class, especially their first-round guys. That doesn’t mean Ponds won’t get there, but it’s clear that he needs more development, and that could be justified.
