Ellis Robinson could end UGA’s drought of 5-star CBs drafted in first round
Georgia has had a lot of success developing cornerbacks. It has landed a number of 5-star players at that position during Kirby Smart’s tenure.
Yet the Bulldogs have not yet been able to a turn a 5-star cornerback into a first-round NFL draft pick. Of the five they’ve signed, Tyson Campbell was a second-round selection, Daylen Everette went in the third round, Kelee Ringo was a fourth-rounder and Jaheim Singletary is at Iowa State after transferring out of Georgia and Arkansas.
The fifth of those five 5-star cornerbacks, Ellis Robinson, is still on Georgia’s roster. He’s entering his third season in Athens, making him eligible for the 2027 draft.
Robinson didn’t get a chance to show much as a true freshman, appearing in just four games for the Bulldogs.
His 2025 season went much better, as he made four interceptions. He added seven pass breakups to go along with 20 tackles. Robinson played in all 14 games for Georgia, but he was still splitting snaps with Daniel Harris at the beginning of the season.
Harris is now at Cal and Everette is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. That makes Robinson the clear alpha in Georgia’s cornerback room entering his pivotal 2026 season.
Robinson was the top defensive recruit in the 2024 recruiting cycle. That ranking saddled Robinson with massive expectations.
His play in 2025 lived up to those lofty rankings. His interception against Georgia Tech was one of the standout moments of the season.
While he didn’t come down with an interception the following week against Alabama, his physicality stood out in his matchup against Ryan Coleman-Williams. The former 5-star wide receiver had just two receptions in a Georgia win.
Robinson will be tasked with making things difficult for opposing offenses on a weekly basis this fall. Georgia rarely lets cornerbacks travel all over the field to lock up a single receiver, but Robinson has the ability to excel in coverage, man or zone.
“He’s played a lot of football, and he’s playing well right now,” Smart said this spring. “He has to play within the system all the time, and that’s important, that he understands the technique we’re asking him to play with. And when he does that, he’s a really good football player.”
Pair that with his improved physicality, and it’s not a surprise to see Robinson among the most praised defenders this offseason. Most lists of the top defensive players in the sport have Robinson on it.
If Robinson continues to build on what he’s already done at Georgia, he shouldn’t have to wait long to hear his name called during the 2027 draft.
Doing so would give the Bulldogs another first-round cornerback, as he would join Eric Stokes and Deandre Baker. Both were 3-star prospects when they signed with Georgia.
Kamari Lassiter was a 4-star prospect when he signed with Georgia in the 2021 recruiting cycle. Yet he needed only three seasons in Athens before becoming a second-round pick by the Houston Texans. Lassiter has quickly blossomed into an excellent pro.
Stokes, Baker and Lassiter are evidence that you don’t need to be a 5-star prospect to turn into a highly drafted cornerback. Conversely, Campbell is Georgia’s only 5-star cornerback signee that became either a first- or second-round pick.
Everette and Ringo, it should be noted, both made significant contributions during their Georgia careers. Calling either disappointing or underwhelming would be incorrect.
A lot of things have to go right for a player to max out his potential. Even if players like Robinson, Everette and Ringo have a head start thanks to their athletic gifts, they still have to work extremely hard to get to the NFL. Of 22 5-star signees that began and ended their careers at Georgia under Smart, nine turned into first-round draft picks.
Robinson will look to add to that total. To do so, he’ll likely need to have an even better season than he did in 2025.
That is a difficult ask for any player, even one as gifted and now proven as the redshirt sophomore cornerback.
Yet Robinson is more than capable of doing difficult things. Playing against the likes of Coleman-Williams, Cam Coleman and the best receivers in the SEC challenges him every week.
Should he prove up to the task, he should bring an end to one of the more interesting Georgia development quirks.
“I’d say freshman year, when I first got here, I was just learning the scheme and everything, trying to figure it out like any other freshman would,” Robinson said. “But I feel like now, since I got two years under my belt here at Georgia, it’s been easier for me, I can say, just knowing what they want from me and what they want from me to do.”