During day two of the 2026 NFL draft, the New York Jets struck a trade with the Detroit Lions.
That temporarily sent the Baltimore Ravens draft room into a panic. Baltimore thought the Lions were jumping in front of them to take Missouri pass rusher, Zion Young.
“We got first round grades on Young,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said in the draft room on “Ravens Wired.” He revealed that Young was the second-best-ranked player available for them to start day two of the NFL draft.
“Lions are trading with the Jets to get up in front of us,” a Ravens executive told the war room.
“Yeah, that’s gonna be for Zion Young. God…” DeCosta responded.
Baltimore shared some behind-the-scenes footage from the draft on their new documentary special, “Ravens Wired.”
It was only a temporary scare because the Lions traded up with the Jets to get Michigan defensive lineman Derrick Moore, not Zion Young.
The Ravens then took Young with the No. 45 overall pick in the second round.
Jets Seemingly Got Screwed Themselves
I attended the 2026 NFL draft in Pittsburgh. The rumor mill believed that the Jets were hoping to land Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez with the No. 44 overall pick. However, they got sniped by their division rival, the Miami Dolphins, who took him at pick No. 43.
These rumors are unsubstantiated. However, as soon as Rodriguez went, the Jets interestingly immediately traded out with the Lions.
Detroit gave up the No. 50 overall pick in the second round and the No. 128 overall pick in the fourth round in exchange for the No. 44 overall pick.
The Jets did go defense, but not linebacker; they went cornerback, selecting Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds.
Ponds Is Creating Early Buzz With the Jets
Film analyst Joe Blewett of Jets X-Factor told Jake Asman that “in terms of value for the pick, I think [Ponds] may be one of my favorite picks over the last decade or decade and a half for the Jets.”
“I really, really like the film and I think it’s a legitimate statement that if he were to suddenly somehow gain two or three inches before the draft, he is probably a top half of the first round type of pick,” Blewett said on “The Jake Asman Show.”
Spoiler alert: Ponds did not receive that magical growth spurt. Instead, he is listed on the Jets’ official roster sheet at 5-foot-8 and weighs 182 pounds.
Despite his size, the Jets have big expectations for their new talented cornerback.
“If second-round pick D’Angelo Ponds is as good as the Jets think he is, he could wind up being the opening-day starter at nickelback. The question, of course, is his size: 5-foot-8. Fortunately for him, there aren’t many tall receivers in the AFC East,” ESPN’s Rich Cimini wrote.
The Jets will cross-train him in the slot (inside) and on the boundary (outside). So he will have multiple pathways to potentially crack the starting lineup in Week 1.
The competition will be stiff; the Jets have a ton of players who are competing for those precious starting gigs at cornerback.
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