Less than 24 hours after being selected No. 30 overall in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, Omar Cooper Jr. arrived at 1 Jets Drive curious about who the Jets would select next.
"I had a meeting with [head coach Aaron Glenn] and my family and after that meeting I was like 'So who are we thinking for our first second-round pick?' " Cooper said on "The Official Jets Podcast." "He said 'We're thinking either O-lineman or DB … I like your guy D'Angelo Ponds, he kind of reminds me of myself.'
"I said 'Go get 'em.' "
And the Jets called Ponds that night, selecting him in the second round, No. 50 overall.
"It's a dream come true," Ponds said. "To win a National Championship and to be in the NFL, it's been a great experience, all I can ask for."
Initial Impressions
Cooper spent his whole collegiate career with the Hoosiers. The first two seasons were difficult, but he opted not to transfer. When Curt Cignetti took over the IU program after arriving from James Madison, so did Ponds.
"When I [first saw Ponds] I thought 'oh he's really short,' '' Cooper said. "But once you play against him, he's all of the above: he's smart, he's fast, he's aggressive, he's not just going to let you push him around. It kind of shocked me at first, but he helped me grow as a receiver just going against, I would say, the best DB in college football last year."
Cooper's Jr.'s reaction was something Ponds was used to hearing. For the 5-8 CB, his size was scrutinized by coaches and scouts since he was in high school.
"My high school coach would bring coaches in and tell them 'this is the guy,' and they would just tell him 'like we see what he's doing, but his size,' " Ponds said. "Now those same guys come back like dang we missed on him."
It gave Ponds a chip on his shoulder — he likes proving those initial impressions wrong.