One of Georgia's five-star freshmen could be on the brink of a breakthrough.

Cornerback Ellis Robinson IV played nine snaps toward the end of Georgia's win over Mississippi State on Saturday. Afterward, head coach Kirby Smart raved about Robinson's progress.

"He's had the two best weeks of practice that he's had," Smart said. "I thought that with the week against Auburn, he really started, like, you can hear him talking in walk-throughs. You can hear him communicating. You see him doing things. And then he had a good week this week in practice. He got better. He competed. He did some good things. And you see him understanding the defense."

Smart added that the unique nature of Mississippi State's offense, which utilizes wide receiver splits and high tempo, kept Robinson from being on the field more. But could he be in line for more action going forward?

Playing defensive back as a freshman is tough in the SEC. As Smart noted on the Tuesday following the Mississippi State game, mistakes in the secondary almost always lead to big gains or touchdowns.

With that in mind, freshman corners need to be sharp mentally as well as physically. Smart has been seeing that more and more from Robinson.

"He's blessed with God-given talent. He's really talented," Smart said. "He's practiced better the last two weeks than he has all year. Like, I think he has the stamina to go practice the whole time, the attention to detail, to focus in meetings. He takes much better notes right now than he has."

Robinson's teammates have noticed as well.

Senior safety Dan Jackson called Robinson a "great athlete, great competitor." Senior defensive lineman Nazir Stackhouse said Robinson reminds him of himself when he first entered the Georgia program.

"Ellis has definitely risen from where he was before," Stackhouse said. "He's learned a lot in the meeting room. He's always paying attention in the meeting room. He's just a fun guy to be around…. He’s always joyful every day. He's always looking forward to getting better every day in practice and inching his way onto the field. Ellis has been developing as a young player in this league and is amazing as a guy."

Georgia's defense faces a stiff challenge this weekend at No. 1 Texas. Still, it seems as if Robinson could be on the verge of some major playing time for the Bulldogs.

"I'm excited about Ellis," Smart said Tuesday. "I think he does a really good job, and we've got to keep finding ways to try to get him out there."