D'Angelo Ponds: DB · Indiana · #5.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
D'Angelo Ponds
Hits like a linebacker and still takes the ball away. Played for two head coaches at two programs in three seasons: Damian Wroblewski and Curt Cignetti. All-America (SI) in 2025 made it three straight seasons on the honors list. One game to point at: 9 tackles against Ohio State — Week 15, 2025.
Play style
Hits like a linebacker and still takes the ball away.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
60 tackles. 10 passes defended. 2 interceptions. 4 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
The Daily Hoosier Oct 28
The Herald-Times Oct 21
USA Today Oct 17Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Indiana | 60 | 43 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 |
| 2024 | Indiana | 55 | 35 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 |
| 2023 | James Madison | 51 | 33 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 11 | 2 |
| Career | 166 | 111 | 10.5 | 0.0 | 30 | 7 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 15 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 27-14vs Old Dominion | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wk 2 | W 56-9vs Kennesaw State | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 73-0vs Indiana State | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 63-10vs No. 9 Illinois | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 30-20@ No. 3 Oregon | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 38-13vs Michigan State | 9 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 9 | W 56-6vs UCLA | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 10 | W 55-10@ Maryland | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 27-24@ Penn State | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | W 31-7vs Wisconsin | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 14 | W 56-3@ Purdue | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 15 | W 13-10vs No. 1 Ohio State | 9 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | W 38-3vs No. 11 Alabama | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | W 56-22vs No. 5 Oregon | 6 | 4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
 Bowl | W 27-21vs No. 10 Miami | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 3 | |
| Total | 60 | 43 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 10 |
Bowl · 2025
W 56-22
vs Oregon · neutral site
1 rec · 6 yds
Dominant 34-point win at a neutral site against Oregon.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
17%10 pass breakupsInterceptions
2interceptionsTackle volume
60tackles this seasonTFL rate
7%4 TFL60 tackles · 4 for loss · 10 pass breakups · 2 interceptions.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 15 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| Road4g | 3.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-78g | 3.6 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 4.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.9 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Curt Cignetti
Pass share
38.7%
404 pass / 641 run
Plays / game
65.3
16 games
Team sack rate
5.3%
380 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2025
Named to an All-America team by a recognized selector.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #37 at the position.
Selector Grid · 2025
The No. 2,070 recruit in the country is starting in the secondary in the Big Ten as a junior.
How it ended
Three seasons, at James Madison and Indiana, 166 tackles, an All-American season (2025) — drafted at #50 overall by the New York Jets.
Honored in a first season.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA
Named All-American (2025)
named by 2 selectors
ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM
All-Big Ten 1st team (2025)
Weekly recognition
1 weekly honor (2024)
Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week
Coaching lineage · 2023–2025
1 coachPlayed for 1 head coach at 2 schools: Curt Cignetti.
Next stop · NFL
New York Jets2026 NFL rookie season
New York Jets2026 NFL rookie season
