How KJ Bolden and Ellis Robinson can make Georgia football history

Robinson, who tied for the SEC lead with four interceptions last season, said he’s now adjusted to have a “next-play mentality,” to quickly pivot to the next snap.

“If you get a ball caught on you in practice or in a game, it’s just the next play, really,” said the New Haven, Conn/ native.

When Robinson was honored as the FWAA freshman defensive player of the year in 2025, he was asked about what he liked about playing cornerback.

“Just on an island,” he said. “It’s just you and against you or just you against the other person right there. I like that. I like that a lot.”

The 6-foot, 180-pound Robinson is ranked as high as No. 9 by PFF to No. 21 by The Athletic.

“A silky-smooth mover with excellent reactionary quickness and athleticism,” CBS Sports Cooper Petagna wrote, “the former five-star showed clear growth last season and continues to gain the confidence that could send him climbing up boards next April.”

Bolden, from Buford, had an interception as a freshman and two more as a sophomore, but it’s the ones that got away that stick with him. He wants to improve his ball skills.

“I left some money on the field last year,” he said. “I missed like three or four picks last year.”

He said he’s worked on the jugs machine to catch more than 100 passes a day.

Bolden, who was second on the Bulldogs with 76 tackles last season, is projected as high as No. 11 by USA TODAY to No. 26 by ESPN’s Jason Reid.

“Bolden does everything well, and while he may not possess the same hype or versatility as Caleb Downs, the gap between the two prospects is not significant,” PFF’s Daire Carragher wrote comparing him to the No. 11 2026 pick from Ohio State.

Smart said last November that Bolden’s biggest growth in 2025 “is in being in a room where he has to step to the forefront and be a leader and communicate more. Where he relied on other guys to communicate in the past, he is the lead communicator on the back end now. And he's done a nice job of that.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football 2027 NFL Draft KJ Bolden Ellis Robinson