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.
Fierce Competition
The Jets didn't just get two players who understand what it takes to win, they got fierce competitors. For the past two years at Indiana, they battled it out on the practice field and only got better because of their intense approach to every rep.
"I'm running a 10 yard out-route and I'm catching it and I'm like alright, toe-tap, get in bounds but he comes in swipes, undercut," Cooper said about the first practice last spring when they didn't have shoulder pads on yet. "I was like, 'Man, first practice?' and I was lowkey a little mad but at the end of the day, he was competing and he let me know it wasn't, just because it was the first day, it wasn't going to be easy."
Ponds doesn't like giving up any yards or receptions, and it doesn't matter who he's playing against.
"He's fast, got the twitchiness and it was great battles," Ponds said of Cooper Jr. "I remember one time he got me real good … but just going at it, honestly made me a better DB."
Those battles will only continue at 1 Jets Drive.
Drawing Comparisons
While Glenn gets a lot of comparisons to Ponds, Cooper noticed a little bit of Cignetti in him too.
Cignetti exudes a certain kind of confidence that doesn't allow any doubt to disrupt it. Not many believed Indiana was capable of going undefeated, let alone winning a national title, but he knew all along.
"When I took my official visit to Indiana, my dad actually came to Cig and was like 'We're going to have a chance to win a bowl game and win seven games,' and Cignetti just looked at him like he was crazy," Ponds said. "[He replied] 'We're not aiming for a bowl game, like we don't take second to nobody.'"
It's a mentality and culture Cooper immediately recognized in Glenn when he had his first visits with the Jets before the draft.
"I was like, 'you know, you kind of sound like Cig when he first came in [at Indiana],' " Cooper remembered telling Glenn. "I like coach AG a lot and the plans that he has for this team and the mindset he's trying to instill in us is something I look forward to seeing this upcoming season."
