Georgia portal pass catchers receive praise from former teammates
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Georgia added a pair of wide receivers from the transfer portal this offseason, both out of the SEC. That meant that they’d be topics of conversation this week at Media Days in Nashville when their former squads took the stand. After Dominic Lovett and Rara Thomas led Missouri and Mississippi State in receiving last year respectively, both drew praise from former teammates.
“He’s going to push you,” the All-SEC caliber defensive back Kris Abrams-Draine said about his battles against Lovett in practice. “He’s a great athlete himself. Going against somebody that is already good is going to make you better.”
“I think it was like his first practice or something and I had just gotten to DB so we had been friends but we were going at it the whole practice. I wasn’t going against nobody else but him,” he continued. “I feel like that made us come closer as friends … It’s going to be way different (going up against him in a game) because it counts. Practice counts too but this shows on our record. We’re going to compete and keep it how we’re supposed to, but we’re going to compete.”
Lovett caught 56 passes for 846 yards last season at Missouri, both team-high totals. It came on the heels of a 2021 season where he had 26 catches and 173 yards. His receiving yardage in 2022 was enough for fourth best in the league after he led the Tigers in each of the first give games of the season, the only player in program history to accomplish that in the modern era.
Lovett had eight catches for 76 yards in the season opener versus Louisiana Tech. He followed that up with a career day against Abilene Christian, hauling in seven passes for 132 yards including a 79-yard score. Lovett also went for over 100 yards against both Auburn (102) and South Carolina (148), mixing in an impressive day opposite of Georgia in there as well with six grabs and 84 yards in just the first half before exiting with an injury.
“Yeah, there’s no replacing Dominic Lovett,” Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz added on his former All-SEC receiver. “Dominic Lovett is his own player and has his own unique characteristics and competitive spirit, and wish him the best in his new opportunity.”
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Then there’s Thomas who drew the praise of his former quarterback Will Rogers. In two seasons together, Rogers and Thomas connected for 62 receptions, 878 yards and 12 touchdowns. Last season, Thomas finished first on the team in yards, second in touchdowns and fifth in receptions.
“It was special. We were kind of on the same page with some things,” Rogers said. “Anytime he got man-to-man coverage, we were trying to get him the ball. He does a really good job and I hope he succeeds at Georgia.”
“He’s just raw talent, man,” Rogers continued. “I don’t think he started playing football until he was a junior in high school maybe, but his ball skills are out of this world and he can go make a play for sure.”
Lovett and Thomas join a Georgia group of pass catchers that return three of the top five from last year including two-time team leader, tight end Brock Bowers. Ladd McConkey and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint finished top five while guys like Arian Smith and Dillon Bell contributed greatly and have plenty of untapped potential. Still, with talent like that of Lovett and Thomas, they’ll be hard to keep off the field this fall in Athens.
