ATHENS — Georgia’s biggest offseason addition is not all that big. He’s not one of the hulking 5-star players Georgia brought in. Nor is he the fastest player at his position either. That likely belongs to Arian Smith, one of the fastest players in college football.
But expectations are high for transfer wide receiver Dominic Lovett. And so far, the Missouri transfer is meeting them.
Lovett has been a fixture with the first-team offense this fall, working out of the slot position. He impressed with Missouri a season ago, leading the Tigers in receiving.
And his new teammates took quick notice of Lovett.
“He came in during spring and got right into the playbook. His ability to learn the plays right away,” Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint said of Lovett on Tuesday. “His athletic ability, he’s super fast, super quick. Great hands, great route running. I feel like he’s going to be an extra tool for us to use this year. Great person, great player. He’s put in a lot of work for us this year and he’ll contribute for us this year.”
Georgia’s offense figures to rely more on its wide receivers this year, in part because of the addition of Lovett. He was one of two transfers the Bulldogs brought in at the position this offseason, as Georgia also added Rara Thomas. Georgia also brought in three freshman wide receivers as well, but Lovett has been the fastest to adapt to Georgia’s standards.
Lovett has a chance to become a very well-known name for the Bulldogs should he continue to perform as he has to start the 2023 season. ESPN’s Matt Miller recently circled Lovett as one of the players with the most to gain during the 2023 season.
If he improves on what he did at Missouri last season, he has a chance to shoot up NFL draft boards.
“Lovett enters as an unproven work-in-progress and was essentially a gadget player at Missouri, but I see potential to round out his game and truly improve under Bobo and the Georgia staff,” Miller wrote. “He is one of the biggest potential risers at wide receiver in the draft class, and if he hits the ground running, Lovett could quickly shoot into the top-50 conversation.”
Based on how camp has started, Georgia will likely lean more on its passing game this season. That can partially be chalked up to health issues at the running back position, with Kendall Milton and Branson Robinson both missing time due to injury.
But the wide receiver position is poised to be a strength this year in a way it hasn’t in previous seasons. It’s a deep group, with Lovett teaming with Smith, Rosemy-Jacksaint, Ladd McConkey, Dillon Bell and others to form a dependable group for whoever Georgia’s newest quarterback will be. We should also mention Georgia still has star tight end Brock Bowers as well.
“Whoever is out there, whoever is in the game, we feel they have the full ability and trust to go in there, play at a high level and execute at the level we need them to execute at,” Rosemy-Jacksaint said. “I feel like this year, we have a lot more moving pieces in the receiver room and that is going to be a benefit towards us this year.”
Lovett will play his first game as a Bulldog on Sept. 2, when they host UT-Martin. Georgia plays Lovett’s old team on Nov. 4, when the Missouri Tigers come to town.
