ATHENS — For the second consecutive recruiting cycle, Georgia landed the No. 1 high school defensive prospect.

In 2025, the Bulldogs nabbed defensive lineman Elijah Griffin. Not only is he the consensus No. 1 defender in all four recruiting services, he is also the No. 1 defensive lineman.

Given the Bulldogs just sent off four defensive linemen to the NFL draft and didn’t bring in any via the transfer portal, it would be easy to project an immediate role for the Pooler, Ga. standout.

Of course, there was the same thought a year ago when Georgia landed cornerback Ellis Robinson.

Like Griffin, Robinson was the top-ranked defender on all four recruiting services. He was the No. 1 cornerback in the class.

And with Georgia having to replace Kamari Lassiter, it was fair to think Robinson might have been able to step in and play right away at the cornerback position.

Yet that never came to fruition. Robinson actually ended up redshirting after playing in just four of Georgia’s 12 regular season games.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart remarked often throughout the season that Robinson was close to playing. But he never climbed over Julian Humphrey or Daniel Harris, with Georgia starting Humphrey for the first 10 games and Harris the final four.

Robinson reflected on his first season at Georgia prior to the team’s game against Notre Dame. Even while not playing, he still felt he learned a lot this season.

“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.”

Everette returns for Georgia in the secondary, as does Harris. But the latter has far from locked down a starting spot and the battle between Robinson, DeMello Jones and Harris figures to be one of the best and most competitive position battles in the offseason.

Robinson’s lack of playing time became a season-long storyline, even if Smart, when asked, vocalized how close the freshman cornerback was to cracking Georgia’s lineup.

“He’s a physical football player, but he continues to develop,” Smart said prior to Georgia’s game against Texas. “He’s been lifting. His toughness shows. He’s always been a good tackler, so I’m excited about Ellis. I think he does a really good job, and we’ve gotta keep finding ways to try to get him out there.”

It’ll be worth watching if Griffin follows a similar track.

One advantage that Griffin has over Robinson is that Georgia employs a rotation on the defensive line, whereas it usually doesn’t at cornerback. In the Texas game, Everette and Julian Humphrey played every snap for Georgia.

As of this writing, Georiga has 10 scholarship defensive linemen. The Bulldogs are at a numbers deficit compared to last season in that regard. There are fewer bodies for Griffin to have to navigate than a usual freshman defensive lineman.

There also isn’t a significant amount of experienced depth ahead of Griffin. He’s likely to play on the interior of Georgia’s defensive line. On the whole, only Christen Miller can be viewed as an every-down contributor, though Georgia is encouraged by what it has in Jordan Hall and Xzavier McLeod.

Given the canyon-sized gap in physicality between Georgia high school football and the SEC, Griffin will have to make real adjustments when facing off against opposing offensive linemen. Griffin will no longer be the biggest player on the field.

One last thing that works in Griffin’s favor, as opposed to Robinson’s is that we have more recently seen freshmen carve out roles on the defensive line. Mykel Williams, Travon Walker and Jalen Carter — all 5-star prospects like Griffin — did so in their early days at Georgia.

While none of them started, they all found ways to impact games right away at Georgia. That should encourage Griffin that he can do the same.

Cornerback conversely hasn’t seen a true freshman start at the position since Tyson Campbell did so back in 2018.

Robinson and Griffin are fundamentally different players. That’s obvious. But the circumstances surrounding each as they began their time at Georgia is remarkably similar.

We know how Robinson’s freshman season played out. We’ll see if Griffin is able to do what the promising young cornerback could not.