Veering from Consensus: 10 players I'm higher or lower on than the Consensus Board

D'Angelo Ponds, Gennings Dunker, and more! Which players find an unusual spot on my big board compared to consensus?

The greatest part about NFL Draft content is the varying opinions from draft analyst to draft analyst. No two sets of eyes are the same, and that makes boards look funky across the board. My big board will be no different when others I respect in the industry look at it with their eyes.

Every analyst values something different from the next. Some lean into analytics and production metrics, some give more weight to athletic testing at the NFL Scouting Combine, some will claim they use tape only with no outside influence. There are infinite ways to build a full profile of a player.

That’s what makes a consensus board so valuable to aggregate all of these boards and spit out at least a common ground per draft class. Luckily, my podcast co-host, James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm on X), has a consensus board in his app to work from.

So, using James’s data, where do I stray the most from the consensus board? Here are 10 players from this draft class that veer the most from my board compared to the consensus board:

Indiana cornerback D’Angelo Ponds is verified at just a little bit over 5-foot-8. Despite consistently clean technique, a quick trigger, the ability to change directions seamlessly, and more, this shows up on tape. Ponds could not have played Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith better and still gave up over 100 yards receiving.

Want to know the great thing about Ponds? The NFL is running nickel as base, and he is a player I’d love to slide in there from Day 1. If Ponds were two inches taller, he’d be a top-10 pick and the first cornerback off the board; at 5-foot-8, he’s still the best nickel in the class.

Nickel cornerbacks have to be able to cover and tackle, and Ponds can cover and tackle. He missed just three percent of his tackles in 2025, and showed a strong willingness to even buckle down as an edge setter when his man is nubbed off, and he is the end man of line of scrimmage.

He currently sits 55th on the consensus board. Ponds sits at 34th on my board.

Trent McDuffie, Kyler Gordan, Mike Sainristil, Devon Witherspoon (a top-5 pick!), Cooper DeJean, and Jahdae Barron all went in the top-50 of their respective drafts and slid in as Day 1 players in the slot. Why can’t Ponds be the next?