Aaron Glenn picked a player Friday night who reminds many people of Glenn himself.
The team selected Indiana cornerback D’Angelo Ponds in the second round Friday night, making him the second player from the national champion Hoosiers taken by the Jets in this NFL draft. They picked wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. in the first round Thursday.
At 5-foot-9 and 182 pounds, Ponds is undersized, just as Glenn was when the Jets took him in the 1994 draft.
That worked out well.
“That’s a testament to his game and my game,” Ponds said of the comparison. “I think we have some similarities, and that’s definitely a compliment to me.”
Glenn watched the NFL Network as they compared Ponds to him.
“D’Angelo is his own man, and he’s a guy again that we love and the traits speak for themselves,” Glenn said. “You look at the physical characteristics of the player and that just overcomes a lot of the traits that he has as far as the height and all that. So, [we] love the player. Tough, aggressive, comes from a winning program. He’s a damn good player.”
The Jets took Ponds at No. 50 overall after moving down. They traded back with the Lions from No. 44 in the second round to No. 50. They also picked up a fourth-round pick (128 overall) in the trade.
They have no third-round picks and now have three fourth-rounders.
Ponds had seven career interceptions and has played both outside and in the slot. Glenn said the Jets would cross-train Ponds both inside and outside.
He also has contributed on special teams with two blocked punts in college.
He only had one penalty in 2025. He is known as a sure tackler and can give a boost to a Jets secondary that needs one. The Jets had zero interceptions in 2025 and are in desperate need of playmakers on defense.
“I would say I’m an aggressive, scrappy corner; can play inside, can play outside,” Ponds said. “Just a guy who can tackle, who can cover in man coverage, zone coverage, really a player that can do it all.”
Jets general manager Darren Mougey said when they asked wide receivers in this draft class who the toughest cornerback they faced in college was, many answered Ponds.
Ponds began his career at James Madison and followed coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana, where the Hoosiers went from doormats to national champions this past season.
Ponds is a hard hitter. He knocked Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson out of the Rose Bowl with a cracked rib in his signature moment. Mougey said he is one of the best tacklers in this draft.
Not many colleges recruited Ponds out of high school in Miami because of his size. But he has proven his doubters wrong.
The Jets have five picks Saturday — three in the fourth round and two in the seventh.