Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 1 game
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | W 70-20vs Western Kentucky | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Total | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 |
#1
Ellis Robinson IV
Ellis Robinson IV tied for the SEC lead in interceptions -- as a redshirt freshman. The former five-star is the centerpiece of Georgia's rebuilt secondary, and his best football is clearly ahead of him.
6′0″ · 180 lb · New Haven, CT · IMG Academy
CFB Index 88 · #18 of 364 cornersLow confidenceNational watchReturning to Georgia for 2026
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
On production he ranks #18 of 364 corners; on reputation he is on a national watch list. The gap between those two numbers is the story.
Recruiting
5★
CB recruit
No. 2 nationally · Signed with Georgia
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Ellis Robinson IV tied for the SEC lead in interceptions -- as a redshirt freshman. The former five-star is the centerpiece of Georgia's rebuilt secondary, and his best football is clearly ahead of him.
- Signed as a 5-star recruit to Georgia in 2024.
- Named Preseason All-America in 2026.
Ellis Robinson IV tied for the SEC lead in interceptions — as a redshirt freshman. The former five-star is the centerpiece of Georgia's rebuilt secondary, and his best football is clearly ahead of him.
Robinson's first real season was a ballhawk's debut: four interceptions to tie for the SEC lead, seven pass breakups and 20 tackles as a redshirt freshman, earning FWAA Freshman Defensive Player of the Year and second-team All-SEC. At 6-0, 180, the former five-star pairs recovery speed with the instincts to read routes and jump throws. He's a breakout candidate and the building block of a made-over Georgia secondary. The forward stakes carry a small caveat — a minor April surgery kept him out of the spring game, with a healthy return expected — but if he's right, a corner this productive this early is on a track toward being the best in the conference. For Georgia, he's the cover man the rest of the defense gets to be built around.
How he plays
Robinson is an instinctive, ball-hawking cover corner. The four-interception, seven-breakup line as a redshirt freshman is the whole pitch: that's a player who diagnoses route concepts, drives on the throw, and finishes at the catch point — ball production that usually takes corners years to develop. At 6-0, 180 with five-star recovery speed, he has the tools to carry receivers and the anticipation to undercut them. He's a route-reader and a gambler in the best sense, the kind of corner who takes the ball away rather than just defending. The polish and the physicality will round out with reps; the instincts and the takeaway ability are already elite.
The story
Robinson's first real season was a ballhawk's debut: four interceptions to tie for the SEC lead, seven pass breakups and 20 tackles as a redshirt freshman, earning FWAA Freshman Defensive Player of the Year and second-team All-SEC. At 6-0, 180, the former five-star pairs recovery speed with the instincts to read routes and jump throws. He's a breakout candidate and the building block of a made-over Georgia secondary. The forward stakes carry a small caveat -- a minor April surgery kept him out of the spring game, with a healthy return expected -- but if he's right, a corner this productive this early is on a track toward being the best in the conference. For Georgia, he's the cover man the rest of the defense gets to be built around.
His career
He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.
Robinson is an instinctive, ball-hawking cover corner. The four-interception, seven-breakup line as a redshirt freshman is the whole pitch: that's a player who diagnoses route concepts, drives on the throw, and finishes at the catch point -- ball production that usually takes corners years to develop. At 6-0, 180 with five-star recovery speed, he has the tools to carry receivers and the anticipation to undercut them. He's a route-reader and a gambler in the best sense, the kind of corner who takes the ball away rather than just defending. The polish and the physicality will round out with reps; the instincts and the takeaway ability are already elite.
Written by our staff.
20243 games
- Signed with Georgia5-star out of IMG Academy
202513 games
The role got bigger.
- All-SECsecond
2026
- Preseason All-AmericaFirst Team
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★★
CFB
College
Georgia
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🥇
ALL-AMERICA
Named All-American (2026)
1 selectors honored him
🎖
ALL-SEC · 2ND TEAM
All-SEC 2nd team (2025)
Badges
- Honors Badge
- Top-10 Recruit
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coach2024–2026
Georgia
Played his entire career under Kirby Smart.
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
3 seasons under Kirby Smart — 25-5 over that span.
2024Georgia11-3HC: Kirby Smart · Pass-leaning
2025Georgia12-2HC: Kirby Smart · Run-leaning
2026Georgia2-0HC: Kirby Smart · Balanced, slow tempo
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Low confidence
Elite: passes defended (94th percentile). Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
Box-score production (6)
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits & context
Splits
Per-game splits
Through 1 game: 3.0 TKL/g, 0.0 TFL/g, 0.0 SACK/g, 2.0 PD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kirby Smart
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
National watch / fringe AA
In the All-America conversation, short of a selector's first team.
Recognition
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
2026 outlook
In the mix to repeat All-SEC
Based on 2025: #2 of 57 SEC DBs
How the All-SEC estimate is computed
49% estimated, 95% confidence interval 43–54%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.
Selector Grid · 2026
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
Career stats
Game log
How he plays
Play style
Robinson is an instinctive, ball-hawking cover corner. The four-interception, seven-breakup line as a redshirt freshman is the whole pitch: that's a player who diagnoses route concepts, drives on the throw, and finishes at the catch point -- ball production that usually takes corners years to develop. At 6-0, 180 with five-star recovery speed, he has the tools to carry receivers and the anticipation to undercut them. He's a route-reader and a gambler in the best sense, the kind of corner who takes the ball away rather than just defending. The polish and the physicality will round out with reps; the instincts and the takeaway ability are already elite.
Our classifier reads him the same way: erases the deep middle of the field.
2026 Outlook
Georgia
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive back · Georgia
Returning around him
- 8 Georgia players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -7 net (9 in / 16 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Georgia · Last season: 12-2 (AP #2) · Talent rank #1 · 2026 recruiting class #6
DNA match
Player DNA
Centerfielder
Single-high range who erases the deep middle of the field.
S
His 2025 production profile sits closest to OJ Frederique Jr.’s 2025 season.
Matches OJ on
Height
Tackle volume
PD rate
Differs from OJ on
Class year (lower)
TFL rate (higher)
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to OJ Frederique Jr.'s sophomore season at Miami (2025).
77%match
Matches OJ on
Height
Tackle volume
PD rate
Differs from OJ on
Class year (lower)
Player DNA
Players who play like Ellis Robinson IV
Background
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS 2025 FWAA Freshman Defensive Player of the Year 2025 FWAA, The Athletic Freshman All-America Team 2025 Second Team All-SEC (AP) CAREER HIGHS 4 tackles vs. Kentucky, 2025 1 INT vs. four teams (recent: at Georgia Tech, 2025) 2 pass break-ups vs. Alabama, 2025 - SECCG 2026: Selecte...
The secondary · Georgia
- #4KJ Bolden77 tackles · 2025
- #12Ja'Marley Riddle70 tackles · 2025
- #7Khalil Barnes40 tackles · 2025
- #2Zion Branch28 tackles · 2025
- #1Ellis Robinson IV20 tackles · 2025
16 more on the roster · Georgia team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology