It wasn't that long ago that the Patriots' pass rush was the biggest concern heading into Week 1, since they chose not to re-sign K'Lavon Chaisson in free agency and instead brought in Dre'Mont Jones, while Harold Landry remained sidelined with an injury with no clear return date.
It immediately put unexpected players in the spotlight early and often, such as rookie Gabe Jacas and second-year outside linebacker Elijah Ponder, both of whom have exceeded expectations early in the season.
That's been a welcome sight, of course, especially with Ponder, whom the team took a chance on last season when they signed the undrafted free agent. He's continued to impress, and at this point, that's an understatement given how well he's played over the past six games.
In fact, he's playing better than those in more prominent defensive roles, specifically Jones, and with another sack against the Jets on Sunday, Ponder is now in the top 3 in the league.
He is easily outplaying his teammates, who were projected as the main pass rushers on the defensive line, and because he's doing far more than anticipated, he could leapfrog someone like Jones in no time.
And maybe that's not a bad thing.
Elijah Ponder has become a name Patriots' opponents won't soon forget
The 2025 season was a breakout year for Ponder, proving he could be productive when given the opportunity and that his undrafted status didn't define him as a player.
That's nothing new for the Patriots, who have consistently had an undrafted player make the 53-man roster, with the longest streak in the NFL, even under Mike Vrabel.
And now Ponder is making it look like they've gotten him for a steal with how he's playing so far in 2026, setting career highs and currently on pace to reach 15.5 sacks this year, which would be the highest number of sacks by a single player since Matthew Judon hit that mark in 2022.
At this point, with a sack on Geno Smith on Sunday, he now has the longest streak by a Patriots defender since Joshua Uche recorded a half sack in 5 straight games four years ago.
Elijah Ponder keeps doing his thing 😤
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 18, 2026
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/HZIisZ7sue
After this week's game, he has now recorded 21 combined tackles, 7 for a loss, 10 quarterback hits, a forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries (one of which was returned 19 yards for a touchdown), and 5.5 sacks.
Ponder has consistently ranked among PFF's best edge defenders in both overall grade and pass-rush win rate and was named to the Team of the Week after the Patriots' dominant Week 5 win over the Raiders.
Considering the talent on the defensive line, like Christian Barmore and Milton Williams, it's quite impressive that he's performed at their level, if not better, through the first six weeks of the season.
Even more notable is the fact that he has already recorded more sacks than some of the top-tier pass rushers across the NFL, including Maxx Crosby (2), Aidan Hutchinson (4), and T.J. Watt (4.5). Who could have guessed that Ponder's name would be among those superstars at the start of the season, or better yet, outperforming them?
At this rate, it seems easy to say that Ponder deserves to start every game moving forward, maybe even over Jones, who has recorded just one sack so far. And while he's done other noteworthy things, he hasn't lived up to what he was brought in to do.
Instead, Ponder has taken over that role and run with it, and it doesn't seem like he'll give it back any time soon.
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