What 5-star defensive back did ESPN's Tom Luginbill compare to Sauce Gardner and Minkah Fitzpatrick?
Georgia football commit and signee Ellis Robinson IV has the potential to be an elite player, with ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill making some pretty strong projections for the class of 2024 defensive back.
Robinson is a five-star player who participated in last week’s Under Armour All-America Game. ESPN ranks him as the top recruit in the nation in the 2024 class.
He had an offer list that included Florida State, Kentucky and Miami among others.
Luginbill was the analyst for last week’s Under Armour All-America game on ESPN. After watching Robinson in practice, he was impressed with the defensive back, who signed with Georgia during the early signing period in December.
“If I were to just tell you from a physical attributes standpoint, he’s as good of a pure cover corner prospect that we’ve had in this game over the last 17 years now,” Luginbill told USA TODAY High School Sports.
“I think what makes him a bit unique is he’s every bit as good a tackler and run supporter- it’s not all about the pass breakup, interceptions and recovery. He’s a complete package. So we’ve been very excited to see that he has been as advertised.”
Robinson played his last year of high school football for IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida). IMG finished the season fifth in the nation in the USA TODAY HSS Super 25.
As for comparisons, Luginbill likened Robinson to a trio of defensive backs who are currently in the NFL.
“He’s built very, very similar to Sauce – that’s a great comp that I would agree with,” Luginbill said.
“I think Eli Apple when he was at Ohio State, that’s another one? I would say that some of the Alabama guys Dre Kirkpatrick, Minkah Fitzpatrick when he first came to Alabama, he was a corner that got moved into safety. So I think there’s a lot of good comps out there.
“You just don’t find six one-and-a-half, 190-pound corners that are just so fluid and agile and explosive…there’s a lot of guys that look the part and are athletic, but maybe they don’t perform to that level all the time. He performs on par with his skill set.”