Georgia HC Kirby Smart hints at need for improvement from young cornerbacks
Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart isn't afraid to throw young players into the fire as long as they're ready to go. And according to coach Smart, that hasn't been the case for five-star true freshman cornerback Ellis Robinson, but he's getting there. "Ellis is getting better," Smart said. "He works his tail off. You […]
Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart isn't afraid to throw young players into the fire as long as they're ready to go.
And according to coach Smart, that hasn't been the case for five-star true freshman cornerback Ellis Robinson, but he's getting there.
"Ellis is getting better," Smart said. "He works his tail off. You know, we try to find roles for him on special teams. He's continuing to grow. He practices with the twos, you know, all practices. He goes one-on-one reps. He gets better. He's a good tackler. He's physical with a lot of scrimmage. He does a good job with his hands. Good job with ball location, like getting balls down. He's continuing to challenge those other guys. And we've had those guys this week all getting lots of reps and competing."
Robinson saw action in Georgia's first two games, playing a total of 28 snaps and recording two tackles.
Sophomore Daniel Harris is in a similar boat as Robinson, though he's seen more action, logging 66 snaps on defense and four tackles.
Smart has stressed that while he's proud of Robinson and Harris, they need to start practicing with more intention, or more like former Georgia cornerback star Kamari Lassiter, if they plan on seeing the field more.
"Well, he had opportunities," Smart said of Harris. "He does a good job with a lot of scrimmage. He had a really good play on fourth and one where he came closed and helped set an edge on the stop we had on them on fourth and one. Daniel continues to grow and mature. You know, he's 193 pounds now. That's a big corner. And he doesn't even look 193. He could be 200 pounds easily because he's so long. But his practice habits have improved the most.
"And I've challenged him to say, you know, if you could practice every day, I tell them all the time, what would Kamari do? What would Kamari do? They'd probably get sick of hearing it. Comparison is the peak of joy, but Kamari was such a great practice player and walk-through player that we have clips of him doing things in practice and walk-through that we want them to emulate. He, Julian, and Daylen and all those guys, they got to practice very intentional and stay focused. It helps them play better."
Until Robinson and Harris start mirroring Lassiter's practice work ethic, Smart is going to keep giving the majority of defensive snaps to Daylen Everette and Julian Humphrey. But that's not such a bad thing considering the pair has racked up 23 total tackles together so far this season.
