Kirby Smart heaps praise on TE Lawson Luckie, WR Mekhi Mews during Georgia spring game

Two offensive players, in particular, showed up in a big way during the Georgia spring game on Saturday: true freshman tight end Lawson Luckie and redshirt-sophomore wideout Mekhi Mews. Luckie made several nice plays as a receiver and Mews flashed as a kick returner and with elite speed at receiver.

Doing an on-field interview in the second half with ESPN’s Alyssa Lang, head coach Kirby Smart was complimentary of both young pass catchers. He noted that Luckie enrolled in December and joined the Bulldogs for practices during the College Football Playoff, giving him a notable leg up.

“He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve been around, as far as playing football. He does a really good job on that. So it’s fun to be around him. I’ll tell you, he’s a kid that took advantage of, he didn’t go play in all these all-star games. He just said, ‘I’ll stay here and practice with the Georgia Bulldogs.’ So he had 15 to 20 practices of semifinals, and the finals game that he practiced with our team. So he’s so much further ahead,” Smart said.

Luckie is a Georgia legacy — his father played for the Bulldogs — and was a four-star tight end prospect in the 2023 signing class according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the No. 8 tight end in the class and joins a Georgia tight ends room chock full of talent. Though he’s not likely to unseat Brock Bowers as the starter, Luckie might be on pace to compete with the likes of Oscar Delp to be the backup.

Even during the winter, Luckie was showing a lot of promise, Smart said.

“He was a really good, good player during that time, too,” Smart said. “He was a scout team tight end and all the older players were like, ‘Dang, who is this dude?'”

Along with Luckie, Mews had a strong performance on Saturday. He took back a kickoff for a touchdown for the black team for Georgia, but Smart called it back to let the offense and quarterback Carson Beck get a series. Later in the game, Mews made a catch over the middle of the field and raced away from defenders for a long gain.

Smart said he knew something like this was in the cards, given the way Mews had performed on the scout team against Georgia’s championship-level defense the past two years.

“I tell people all the time: Mekhi Mews has made more plays on the scout team the last two years against great defenses, now. Great defenses, he’s gone out there and made a bunch of plays. And it’s paying off today,” Smart said. “Because he plays every day against one of the best defenses in the country and he’s not afraid to go out there and play right now and he’s done a great job. He’s really an explosive guy.”