Due to their incessant need for additional cornerback help, one player the Atlanta Falcons have been linked to all offseason long is Indiana cornerback D'Angelo Ponds. Ponds was one of the best cornerbacks in the nation for the Hoosiers, but his draft stock has taken a surprise turn for the worst.
The debate surrounding Ponds has lingered all offseason long, but he put that to rest during Indiana's Pro Day on Wednesday. He ran a 4.31 second 40-yard dash that some people in attendance clocked in as fast as 4.25. And while that was wild, his 43.5" vertical jump impressed scouts even further.
We know that the first-team All American deserves to be selected in the first two rounds of the 2026 NFL Draft, and this performance proved it. He was a key piece of Indiana's national championship run, so if he vindicated Curt Cignetti for consistently trusting him, the Falcons should do the same thing.
The Atlanta Falcons need to gamble on D'Angelo Ponds' talent regardless of the red flags
Nobody was questioning Ponds' talent, but his frame is giving teams some hesitance. For as athletic as he is, a 5-foot-8 5/8, 182-pound cornerback is incredibly small, especially for a man hoping to be a boundary cornerback. But if you're playing him in the slot, it makes a lot more sense to roll the dice.
However, therein lies the problem with the Falcons. Once Billy Bowman Jr. returns to the field, odds are that he'll resume his starting role out of the nickel while Mike Hughes plays outside. So unless Jeff Ulbrich plans to move Bowman to the outside, Ponds would play opposite A.J. Terrell on the outside.
Across his three college seasons, Ponds has picked off seven passes and generated 33 pass breakups. That's a player where regardless of his size, he will be able to make an impact in Atlanta. And I think Ulbrich is a good enough defensive mind where he'll get more out of betting on his upside.
Frankly though, Ponds is a playmaker, and I think some people are overthinking him despite the talent being put on display time and again. Too often prospect make front offices look foolish for letting elite prospects fall down the board, so if Ponds falls far enough, Ian Cunningham has to draft this elite athlete.
The NFL is a business where making good decisions will help you just as much as capitalizing on other team's mistakes, and this may be both for Atlanta. Ponds can play. He proved it this year and during his Pro Day, so even if he's a nickel corner they nab in Round 3, the talent is too much to ignore.