Georgia has added to its wide receiver room in a big way, as the Bulldogs pulled Missouri wide receiver Dominic Lovett from the transfer portal.
Lovett initially signed with Missouri as a 4-star recruit in the 2020 recruiting cycle. He will have three years of eligibility remaining.
Lovett is the second wide receiver Georgia has pulled out of the transfer portal, as Georgia landed RaRa Thomas from Mississippi State earlier on Wednesday. The Bulldogs also signed three wide receivers on Wednesday, with Tyler Williams, Anthony Evans and Yazeed Haynes also Bulldogs.
“They all probably need -- they’re going to have to hit the weight room and get stronger to be able to really do the things we want them to do,” Smart said on the 2023 signees. “But you want to take a guy that has natural speed, the pass-catching ability, make you miss ability, run after the catch, vertical threats. We think we get that in those three guys.”
Related: Georgia grabs Mississippi State receiver Rara Thomas out of transfer portal
For Missouri this past season, Lovett hauled in 56 receptions for 846 yards and three touchdowns. Against the Georgia Bulldogs, Lovett caught six passes for 84 yards in a 26-22 loss. That was the only game Georgia has played this season that has been decided by one score.
The Bulldogs were the only team in college football this past season that did not go into the transfer portal to add a player. But Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has made it clear the Bulldogs will use the transfer portal to improve the roster.
“We’ve had successful guys come from the portal, and we’ll continue to utilize the portal,” Smart said. “It would be foolish to think that you could be successful in college football and not evaluate and look through the portal. But you have to be smart what you bring into your program, especially if you want to keep a dynamic, the culture we like to keep.”
Georgia is tentatively not set to lose any players from the wide receiver position to the NFL, but that can change. Kearis Jackson and Dominick Blaylock both participated in senior day activities for the Bulldogs.
The wide receiver position has been hampered by injuries in recent seasons, with AD Mitchell, Ladd McConkey and Arian Smith all missing time this season due to injury. McConkey is the team’s top wide receiver in 2022, as he’s hauled in 51 receptions for 675 yards and five touchdown catches.
The Bulldogs will bring back Brock Bowers for another season as he is just a sophomore. He has led Georgia in every receiving category in each of the past two seasons.
To date, the Bulldogs have only had two players enter the transfer portal from their team, as Bill Norton announced he would be playing at Arizona next season.
Lovett will not be able to play for Georgia this season, as the Bulldogs continue to compete for a national championship. Georgia takes on Ohio State in the College Football Playoff on Dec. 31.
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