ATHENS — Georgia has plenty of former 5-star players on its 2025 roster, 13 to be exact.

Players with that recruiting ranking carry a certain level of expectations. There’s interest in those prospects that follows players throughout their careers.

Of those 13 former recruiting standouts, perhaps no player on the Georgia roster will be followed more closely than cornerback Ellis Robinson.

He signed with Georgia as a member of the 2024 recruiting class. He was the consensus top cornerback in the country and the No. 2 overall recruit. For all the talented cornerbacks that have come through Georgia under Kirby Smart — Kamari Lassiter, Tyson Campbell, Eric Stokes, Kelee Ringo, Deandre Baker — none had as much raw talent as Robinson.

The only recruit that was ranked higher than Robinson in that cycle was Jeremiah Smith, who was the best player on the field in the national championship game for Ohio State.

But while Smith was dominating in 2024, Robinson ended up redshirting. Ringo and Stokes ended up doing the same in their time at Georgia, so it’s not uncommon for a cornerback to do so.

But Robinson isn’t like most cornerbacks. He’s the highest-rated defensive back Georgia has ever signed and with that came expectations that he could play immediately.

Especially as Georgia bounced between Daniel Harris and Julian Humphrey at the cornerback position opposite Daylen Everette.

“I feel like my freshman year has really helped me a lot,” Robinson told DawgNation’s Jeff Sentell. “It helped me develop as a person and a player overall. Just being around guys like Daylen (Everette), Malaki (Starks), Dan (Jackson) it is just a great experience overall to learn from those guys.”

Harris started the final four games of the season for the Bulldogs, which led to Humphrey transferring out of the program. Harris is back, as is Everette.

Georgia also brings back cornerback DeMello Jones, who made real strides during the closing stretch of the 2024 season. Jones was a top-100 recruit in the 2024 recruiting class and to this point is an equal to Robinson.

During the course of 2024, Kirby Smart answered a number of questions about Robinson. He was certainly a popular player among fans and media.

Smart indicated multiple times that Robinson was close to getting onto the field in a meaningful role. But that never ended up coming to fruition.

“Ellis is a really solid, good football player,” Smart said prior to the Notre Dame game. Throughout the year, he has grown so much maturity-wise, because he went from probably being really good (player) that can cover, that was always worried about giving up a completion. He’s so competitive. He gets so mad if he gives up a play, and he wants to make every play. So sometimes he gives up plays trying to not let guys get completions when you’re a lot better off just understanding what the defense gives you.”

It’s worth noting that Ringo and Stokes both ended up breaking into the starting lineup in their second seasons in Athens. The same was true for Baker and Lassiter as well. Tyson Campbell was the last true freshman to start at the cornerback position for Georgia.

Smart feels the light has gone on for Robinson and that he understands what Georgia is asking him to do will help the defense in 2025.

“He is so much further along in terms of assignments,” Smart said. “He took so much pride from about game — I don’t know, seven, eight, nine, somewhere in there, where he started, like, okay, I’ve got to prove to these guys I can communicate, because every team now shifts and motions every play. So they make you change things and change looks. If it was as easy as just go out there and cover, he’s one of our best cover guys. But you have to do other things, and he has gotten so much better at picking that up.

“I’m proud of the way he competes. He’s also one of the most physically tough guys we have, because he’s not afraid of contact. Most corners don’t like contact. Ellis is not afraid of contact, and he likes tackling.”

Georgia has a talented cornerback room in 2025. It’s a strength of the team and Robinson is part of the reason why that is the case.

It’ll be up to Robinson to show that he’s not just a complimentary player but one of the biggest reasons Georgia has a stout secondary.

He’s clearly got a lot of eyeballs on him entering the 2025 season. That is nothing new for Robinson, as he was one of the top recruits for his recruiting cycle.

The hope is that he’s much more comfortable with both the expectations and what Georgia is asking him to do in its defense.

Because if he is, then he’ll likely be showcasing why he was such a top recruit in the first place.