{"id":172539,"date":"2025-07-01T08:50:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T08:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/172539\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T08:50:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T08:50:21","slug":"indianas-dangelo-ponds-labeled-a-2026-1st-round-pick-by-espn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/172539\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds labeled a 2026 1st Round pick by ESPN"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indiana<\/a> football had a breakthrough season in 2024 and look for a lot of the same success this year \u2014 with the goal of returning to the College Football Playoff on the table. A large reason for the optimism is because of the core that returns to Bloomington, including defensive back D\u2019Angelo Ponds. <\/p>\n

Ponds is coming off of a sophomore campaign in which he was named a Second-Team All-American by numerous outlets. He finished the season rated the top cornerback in the Big Ten and No. 9 among power four programs, per Pro Football Focus.<\/p>\n

Ponds had 55 tackles, 9 pass breakups, 4.5 tackles for loss and 3 interceptions. <\/p>\n

On Monday, Ponds was tabbed as a First Round selection in the 2026 NFL Draft. ESPN\u2019s Matt Miller released the first round of his\u00a0first 2026 mock draft<\/a>\u00a0and placed Ponds at No. 28, going to the Baltimore Ravens.<\/p>\n

He was the fourth cornerback taken in Miller\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ravens added two short-term\u00a0cornerback options\u00a0in veterans\u00a0Jaire Alexander\u00a0and\u00a0Chidobe Awuzie, but they need a long-term solution,\u201d Miller wrote. \u201cPonds projects as a slot corner because of his 5-foot-9, 170-pound frame, but he\u2019s a feisty cover man with ball skills (five career interceptions) and the quickness to match up with inside receivers. <\/p>\n

\u201cHaving him join a pair of young safeties in 24-year-old All-Pro\u00a0Kyle Hamilton\u00a0and 2025 first-rounder\u00a0Malaki Starks\u00a0would give Baltimore a fierce group of youthful playmakers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ponds has been among the top cornerbacks since he arrived at James Madison two years ago as a true freshman. <\/p>\n

In April, ESPN named Ponds as the 4th-best returning cornerback<\/a> heading into the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s a play to be made, Ponds is usually there to make it,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Chris Low wrote. \u201cOver the past two seasons, his 91.8 grade by Pro Football Focus leads all returning FBS cornerbacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ponds was part of a defensive unit for Indiana football that ranked second nationally in 2024 in yards allowed per play (4.28) and sixth in points allowed per game (15.6).<\/p>\n

Indiana has had just one first-round selection in the NFL Draft since 1994.<\/p>\n

Not yet a member of TheHoosier? Take advantage of our launch with On3 and join our community<\/a>! Just $1 for your FIRST MONTH and then 50% off the rest of your FIRST YEAR! Join here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Indiana football had a breakthrough season in 2024 and look for a lot of the same success this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[30725,7,49,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-172539","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-dangelo-ponds-23-chaminade-madonna-prep","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114777123971248343","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}