ESPN identifies Georgia’s top newcomers for this season
Georgia lost 15 players to the NFL draft and more to the transfer portal following its 2021 national championship.
Even with all the losses, Kirby Smart and the Dawgs were inactive in the transfer portal heading into the 2022 season. They were the only Power Five team to not add a single player from the transfer portal.
You’d think the significant loss of contributors to a national championship-winning team would have hurt the Bulldogs, but you’d be wrong. As you know, Georgia went 15-0 and won its second straight national title, relying on recruiting alone to fill its 2022 roster.
This year, Georgia added two highly touted transfers, both at the wide receiver position. Mississippi State’s RaRa Thomas and Missouri’s Dominic Lovett signed with Georgia in December as transfers.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach wrote a story naming the top newcomers for every team in his way-too-early preseason top-25 for 2023.
He identified both Thomas and Lovett as Georgia’s top newcomers for next year.
“As good as the Bulldogs were on offense in 2022, they didn’t have many consistent receivers outside of Ladd McConkey,” Schlabach wrote. “Adonai Mitchell, who transferred to Texas, and Arian Smith were hurt for much of the season.”
He also noted it’s unclear whether Thomas will train this spring with Georgia following his Jan. 23 arrest.
“Kirby Smart added two transfers to help the receiver corps this coming season, although it’s unclear if both will be available when spring practice begins. Mississippi State transfer Rara Thomas, who led his former team in receiving yards last season, was arrested on a felony charge of false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery-family violence following an incident with a woman in a dorm room on Jan. 23.”
Thomas had 44 catches for 626 yards and 7 touchdowns last year at Mississippi State. Lovett caught 56 passes for 846 yards and 3 touchdowns in 2022 at Missouri.
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