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Zachariah Branch offers first comments on his arrest as Falcons say it didnât impact his stock
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Zachariah Branch offers first comments on his arrest as Falcons say it didnât impact his stock
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. â The Falcons selected Georgia receiver Zachariah Branch with the No. 79 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on Friday night, five days after he was arrested on a pair of misdemeanor charges in Athens.
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Showed off his blocking skills if anything 😂
Recently saw a Branch “stat” that he averaged only 3.7 air yards per target. With 8.9 total yards per target and 10.2 yards per catch. He is a first down waiting to happen.
Branch came into Athens and immediately worked his tail off, impressing players and staff alike as a hard working team guy with special football ability. He then got on the field to showcase elite skills that became Georgia's biggest and most consistent offensive threat, while demonstrating nothing but high character throughout his year as a Georgia Bulldog. I believe the downtown "incident" was overblown and unnecessary (at best), and the thorough NFL evaluators agreed he's a stand-up guy who is welcome in the league. Branch is a great fit for the Falcons, especially with Tua at QB. Congratulations and best of luck, Atlanta and Zachariah. Go Dawgs!
@Brooksie: Wait till he and Tua synch up. I'm not saying Tua and Tyreek Hill-level, but I'll still offer the comparison. And despite the "downtown Athens incident", Branch has more character in his pinky than Hill ever had. Go Dawgs!
So the headline of the article implies Branch was offering his first comments regarding the arrest. When in fact he had no comment. Another head-scratching headline mismatch with the actual article.
JMHO: Branch is going to end up being better than his draft position shows. He reminds me of Mecole Hardman in many respects, but Branch is a more natural receiver imo. My only concern is his size and getting hurt. If he stays healthy, I think he is going to be a great NFL player. I might actually cut the screen on and watch the Falcons again after giving up on them. He was one of my favorite Dawg WRs ever, and I've been watching them for many decades.
glad to see Falcons acknowledging value of Bulldawg players. They got a good one in Branch. Just keep him away from Athens sidewalks
Just file a FOIA with the Athens PD and you can view the officers body camera video. As a retired State Trooper who lives in a college city, people will try you. The fact he didn’t tell his side may be an indication of what happened. Not siding with either one but maybe the situation could have been handled better. I imagine there are a lot of arrests made in Athens with students but it seems to only make the headlines with players are involved. Funny it seems to be only the football team🤷😂.
Branch remaining silent...may also be...Branch following the advice of an attorney, pending the filing of a law suit. Could be...ya never know.
Go get em Zach...class the place up, when ya get there.
Lol....you know Dawg gone well...the Atlanta coaches and players are well aware of the "Athens Effect". Some of them may have been "ticketed for standing", at one time or another, in Athens. Just sayin'.
I think he did offer an actual comment - saying that anyone who's aware of what happened will easily understand why he wasn't anxious about it affecting his draft position. In other words, he didn't do anything they would warrant an arrest. It's right there in the report.
I'm not sure what difference the body cam footage would make. According to the arresting officer's own account, Branch was told to move, then he moved, then he was arrested for standing on the sidewalk. In your experience, do police ever arrest someone for a valid reason and simply not bother to explain what that reason was in their report?
DAWG and Falcons fan here. Terrell in the 2nd round at 48 (overall) was good value - if you believe the rankings of the pundits (Dane Brugler at The Athletic who does the yearly "Beast") who had him as CB4 and 27 overall. And CB was a position of big need (the Falcons have a few of those). And he'll play with his big brother. Given the Falcons also need a big, run-stuffing DT/NT, I thought Christian Miller might be there in the second but he went off the board to NO at 42. And while WR was also a position of need, I could see us going DT/NT in the third at pick #79. Except there wasn't a DL at 79 that would not have been a pretty big stretch. So Branch at 79 was the right guy at the right price (Brugler had him at 76 overall in the Top 100 at WR14 - however a lot of others liked him way more than Brugler and thought Branch at 79 was a steal). We went D in the 4th with a LB from Oklahoma (Brugler gave him a 6th round grade - so maybe a reach?). Waiting for our next picks (2 in the 6th, one in the 7th). BTW, Brugler had Branch as WR14 and going in the 3rd round; Colby was WR20 and R4-5; Dillon Bell was WR42 and a FA; Oscar was TE4 and R3; Monroe was OT3 and R1-2; Micah was G24 and R7; Christian was DT3 and R2; CJ was LB3 and R2; Daylen was CB13 and R3-4. I'll have to see how accurate he was after the draft.
Falcons got a first round player, at a third-round price, only thing that kept Branch from being a first round pick was his height and size, but he plays like a first rounder, so, that's why I say a first round player at a third-round price, Falcons got a steal.
Like all things in life, time will tell.