The Lions Should Draft This Guy: Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds might be small, but he plays like he’s Andre the Giant

We’re getting closer and closer to the 2026 NFL Draft for the Detroit Lions. With that in mind, we’re starting our new series called The Lions Should Draft This Guy. We’re going to profile a bunch of players we feel the Lions would love, and talk about their positives and negatives. Follow along! Here’s who we’ve covered so far:

• Texas A&M edge Cashius Howell
• Miami edge Akheem Mesidor
• Penn State guard Vega Ioane
• Alabama tackle Kadyn Proctor
• Auburn edge Keldric Faulk
• Arizona State tackle Max Iheanachor
• Clemson tackle Blake Miller
• Michigan edge Derrick Moore
• Illinois edge Gabe Jacas

The Positives of D’Angelo Ponds

His size is going to be pointed out a lot. Ponds is 5-foot-8 and 182 pounds. He’s very small. But as the headline says, he plays like a guy who is much bigger than him. Plus, the Lions do not care about measureables.

Ponds was Pro Football Focus’s eighth-highest graded cornerback in the country last year. His 89.6 coverage grade was the seventh best. He allowed a passer rating of 55.4, had nine pass breakups, and two picks.

Ponds can play on the inside and outside. In Detroit, it fits well as a slot corner where the Lions have Roger McCreary on a one-year deal, but don’t have anyone beyond that, unless you count Ennis Rakestraw. Something the Lions are experimenting with, but haven’t been able to play yet.

The other great thing about Ponds is that he was pretty solid in the run game as well. Something the Lions are looking for everyone on defense to be good at. PFF gave him an 86 run defense grade in 2025.

The Concerns

Yes, the Lions don’t care about measureables, but Ponds is incredibly small. Whichever team takes him would have one of the smallest cornerbacks in the league. That is worth being prepared for when you’ll have him covering some larger receivers here and there. Even though that hasn’t affected him in the past.

He should have had more than two interceptions last year. He had some dropped ones. Killing a play is cool, but killing a drive with a turnover is way better. I’m not sure if it’s a giant career-long problem, but it was in 2025.

The Lions would want him in the slot, but he hasn’t played there since high school. He’s always been on the outside. So there could be a little rust once he’s back there.