ATHENS — You would not believe it based on his answers from behind a podium, but Ellis Robinson is one of the best trash talkers on the team.

When speaking to reporters, Robinson keeps things short and to the point.

When he’s on the field, it’s a different story.

“Confidence, I’d say, is really high for me,” Robinson said. “You know, just playing last year, you have to have confidence out there on the field. So it all starts in practice. If you have confidence in practice, you have confidence in the game too.”

Robinson knows there are certain lines that can’t be crossed when going against his Georgia teammates.

As for opponents, “nothing” is off-limits.

That mindset, along with his God-given ability, is a big reason Robinson is viewed as one of the top defensive backs in the country.

He was named a First Team All-American by the AP, joining Georgia center Drew Bobo and safety KJ Bolden.

It became obvious during the 2025 season that Robinson was at last a confident player. During his breakout redshirt freshman season he started in 12 of UGA’s 14 games, led the Bulldogs in interceptions (4) and pass breakups (7), racked up 20 total tackles, and earned FWAA Freshman Defensive Player of the Year.

“I feel like that award really wouldn’t be done without a team thing,” Robinson said. “So you know, I credit the guys that are on the defensive side as well, and really just the expectation part, I don’t really look at it like that. I just look at it as just going out there and playing.”

More than that, he became the lockdown corner Georgia was searching for to tag with now-Pittsburgh Steelers Daylen Everette.

Coming into the season, Robinson has really embraced the leadership role, taking what his former teammates did for him and passing it along to the underclassmen.

“Just being up there, stepping up into that role, it’s definitely been good though for sure,” Robinson said. “Trying to lead just the younger guys in general too.”

As Robinson has shown in three weeks of fall camp, the preseason hype around him seems well deserved.

Last week, Georgia safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson raved about the corner’s ball skills and believes the game is “slowing down for him.”

Early reports thus far out of camp are that the defensive backs are proving to be a handful for the receivers, partly due to Robinson’s ability to play the ball when targeted. Junior pass catcher Sacovie White-Helton explained that receivers must attack the ball against Robinson; otherwise, life becomes very difficult.

“It forces you to go get the ball. Ellis could play receiver if he wanted to, to be honest,” White-Helton said. “But I believe that his ball skills, it forces us to jump up and go get the ball. We can’t let the ball come down to us, so I think that him guarding us allows us to attack the ball.”

Georgia head coach and former defensive back Kirby Smart knows shutting out any pass thrown your direction is just about impossible; plays are going to be made against you, but your next action after that failure is where he wants to see Robinson grow.

“Ellis is so competitive and I put Demello (Jones) in the same category that they get down on themselves,” Smart said. “We’ve talked a lot about the mental training, the mental dynamic of giving up a pass play whether it’s a touchdown or a hitch. They get the same frustrated and you can’t do that this day and age.”

Robinson’s competitive nature is what fuels the confidence he plays with. But, as his coach noted, he is learning to have a short memory and move on to the next play, trusting that approach will lead to greater success.

“Even if I don’t make one play, I’m always ‘oh yeah, next play, next play’” Robinson said. “Like always confident in my game and everything I do.”