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A dive deep into everything you should know about Detroit Lions 7th-round pick, WR Dominic Lovett.
We’ve come to the end of the
Detroit Lions’ 2025 draft class when it comes to our “5 things to know” series. Before we get into Lions seventh-round pick Dominic Lovett, make sure you catch up on the series below.
Previously:
Here are five things to know about Lovett.
He’s really dang fast
Without a doubt, Lovett’s defining feature is his speed, which he utilized early and often in college. At the
NFL Combine, Lovett ran a 4.40 40-yard dash, which ranked 11th among the wide receiver group.
College made him Georgia Tough
You don’t often think about a 5-foot-10, 185 pound player who wins with speed as someone who is particularly tough or physical, but Georgia coach Kirby Smart made sure that Lovett built some physicality in his game for his final year in 2024.
“Kirby’s kind of old-school,” Lovett said at the NFL Combine. “He likes the tough guys. He likes the smash-mouth football. He wants the guys that are going to block when they don’t got the ball. He wants the guys that are going to go out there and dig out a safety. He wants guys that will be on special teams. He wants guys that will play complete football, and not just be like a one-position guy. He wants you to be able to be all over the field and just be a tough football player, really. Biggest thing is he likes toughness and grit.”
Georgia has a weekly practice they call “Bloody Tuesday,” which emphasizes physicality and intensity, and many former Bulldogs—including Lovett—credit those practices for making them NFL-ready.
“I can play bigger than what I am,” Lovett said. “Even though I’m 5-10, a smaller guy, you can still put me on the outside, put me on a big-box fade, and I just play bigger than what I am. My attitude and my heart is all.”
That’s clearly something that Lions general manager Brad Holmes picked up on.
“(He’s) been mostly a slot and he can do some gadget things, but he’s got some toughness about him when he’s got the ball in his hands that we really, really like,” Holmes said Saturday night.
He credits Ennis Rakestraw for helping develop his game
Before he transferred to Georgia, Lovett played two years of ball at Missouri, where he overlapped with current Lions cornerback Ennis Rakestraw. The two would often go head-to-head in practice, and Lovett says Rakestraw’s work ethic after practice helped him become a better player.
“We had great battles, one-on-ones. There were days he got the best of me and there were days that I got the best of him,” Lovett said. “But every day after practice, he would stay with me and help me with something on how I can beat a defender and what a defender doesn’t like. And vice versa, I would also give him tips as well. So, I really want to give a big shout-out to Ennis. I just want to let you know that you helped me a lot along the way, even when I was at Missouri. Even when I was at Georgia, I could still call him and get tips.”
He “fell in love” with special teams at Georgia—and dominated as a gunner
“I didn’t really play special teams until I got to Georgia,” Lovett said at the combine. “But when I got to Georgia, I fell in love with specials teams. Me and Arian (Smith) kinda took that gunner role under—basically that’s who we was. We only allowed like 23 yards on (punt) special team, gunner-wise, over two years. So we take pride in special teams.”
It’s hard to know how Lovett came up with that stat, but it’s worth pointing out that
according to the NCAA’s official website, the Bulldogs allowed just 57 punt return yards in 2024 (18th in country) and 0 punt return yards in 2023. (Yes, zero).
“Special teams is another opportunity for you to grow your value as a football player and get on the field,” Lovett continued. “It’s just another way to get on the field. I just like being on the field.”
What may be interesting to watch is whether Lovett can get involved in the returner game in Detroit. He didn’t do it in college, but Holmes mentioned it as a possibility.
“His upside on specials teams as a gunner, as a vice, really a four-core guy, and there may be some return stuff that’s untapped with him as well,” Holmes said.
He had a defining leadership moment
While Lovett was never a captain at Missouri or Georgia, he was, by all accounts, a very good teammate. In my research of him, this moment stood out among all the rest.
Back in October, Georgia defeated then-No. 1 Texas in a resilient, 30-15 victory. Even after jumping out to a 23-0 lead, Georgia’s offense struggled behind three interceptions from quarterback Carson Beck. After Beck’s third interception—which led to a 23-15 ballgame late in the third quarter—cameras caught Lovett trying to keep spirits high among his teammates by literally keeping their heads up.
The very next drive, the Bulldogs offense went 89 yards in 11 plays to essentially put the game away and get the big upset on the road.
