Georgia is looking to find a starting cornerback opposite of junior Daylen Everette.
The Bulldogs brought in the top cornerback in the 2024 recruiting cycle in Ellis Robinson, a consensus 5-star recruit. And while Georgia hasn’t started a true freshman at cornerback since 2018, Robinson still has a strong chance of making an impact for Georgia in 2024.
“The key is supplementing his playmaking ability by limiting mistakes,” ESPN’s Rittenberg wrote of Robinson. “But Georgia so far doesn’t seem to have massive separation among its cornerbacks.”
Robinson is behind Julio Humphrey and Daniel Harris at the moment. And even though Robinson may not start, there’s still an expectation that he’ll put himself in the mix to see playing time with the first-team defense.
Robinson isn’t the only talented cornerback Georgia brought in via the 2024 recruiting cycle, as the Bulldogs also signed DeMello Jones and Ondre Evans. While the trio all have a bright future, Robinson has so far been able to distance himself from those two.
Georgia does feel good enough about what it has in the room to at least move Chris Peal from cornerback to safety. Peal has been limited this fall as he recovers from shoulder surgery he had back in the spring.
“You know, we’ve got some guys that work both that go inside and outside,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “Daylen plays some STAR and corner. Julio, Daniel, Ellis, Demello all have grown and gotten better. Ondre Evans is continuing to grow and get better. All of those guys, they work really hard and I’m really pleased with the camp that all really six of those guys have had.”
Robinson’s first game will come against the Clemson Tigers and he may be asked to matchup against some equally talented freshmen. The Tigers signed two 5-star wide receivers in the 2024 recruiting class in T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco.
Both are expected to help try and lift a Clemson offense that has taken a step back from where it was when the Tigers were contending for national championships.
Robinson came to Georgia in part because of his ability to help the Bulldogs maintain that level of excellence. It helps that the Bulldogs have also been to consistently turn cornerbacks into top draft picks, with Kamari Lassiter being the most recent example. The Houston Texans took Lassiter with the No. 42 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Lassiter didn’t start for Georgia as a freshman, but he found a way to make an impact on special teams and got plenty of reps when Georgia got up big during the 2021 season. That experience helped Lassiter become a two-year starter and ultimately an All-SEC player.
Georgia would be thrilled if Robinson could follow a similar arc during his own career.
“Confidence, on the field, swag, just like all the young bucks,” wide receiver Dominic Lovett said of Robinson. “It can be different being new here, it takes a little time to get adjusted, as it was for me. I’ve just seen everybody take those strides. People only see what we do on a Saturday, they don’t see what we do Monday through Friday. I just can’t wait for the first game.”
Dominic Lovett raves about freshman cornerback Ellis Robinson
