It may have taken a year, but Ellis Robinson is getting his chance to compete for a larger role in Georgia’s secondary. Thus far, the reviews have been positive.
“Me and Ellis go up a lot, …” Noah Thomas said of Robinson. “He a problem. I can’t wait to see him lock up some wide receivers this year and go ball out.”
Robinson, now a sophomore, came to Georgia a year ago as one of the highly-touted freshmen in the nation. He was one of the latest five-star prospects to come from IMG Academy and was immediately expected to contribute by some.
It may have made sense on paper as Georgia was looking to replace the then-NFL-bound Kamari Lassiter at cornerback. But it wasn’t how it worked out in reality.
“The hardest lesson that I had to learn from my freshman year, I’d probably say, was being patient,” Robinson said. “Because yeah, I wanted to be out there on the field, but at the end of the day, I knew that my time was coming.”
Daylen Everette, Julian Humphrey, and Daniel Harris were the three cornerbacks to record starts last season. Meanwhile, Robinson had to wait in the wings and learn behind them. He played in just four games as a freshman, where he totaled three tackles.
Now, with Everette and Harris returning from last season, Robinson is competing for a larger role. This spring, he is battling with Demello Jones to line up opposite Harris, as Everette has been limited due to injury.
“I say our relationship, we’ve been kind of close,” Jones said of his relationship with Robinson. “We’ve known each other for about three years now, but yeah, we just compete and brothers go at it.”
Jones later added that the ball skills of the former five-star prospect have been the trait of Robinson’s game that has stood out the most. It is a skill that Robinson has been working on since he started playing football.
“Well, growing up, all I used to do was just track balls with my dad,” Robinson said. “We’ll go to the field, and he’ll just throw the football up, and he’ll just make me go get it.”
Robinson will get a chance to put those ball skills on display Saturday in front of a live crowd, as Georgia’s annual G-Day game is scheduled for 1 p.m.
