{"id":731661,"date":"2026-02-05T18:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T18:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/731661\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T18:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T18:10:15","slug":"georgia-wr-named-perfect-pick-for-falcons-in-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/731661\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia WR named ‘perfect pick’ for Falcons in 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Atlanta Falcons<\/a> are under new leadership, with head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Ian Cunningham replacing Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot after the 2025 season ended. Despite these changes, the team is still in good shape for 2026.<\/p>\n

Atlanta has a young stable of defenders, including two Defensive Rookie of the Year candidates in James Pearce Jr. and Xaiver Watts. On offense, the Falcons have one of the better offensive lines in the NFL and a few nice pieces.<\/p>\n

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Running back Bijan Robinson and wide receiver Drake London have bright futures in Atlanta, but quarterback Michael Penix Jr. could use a few more weapons on that side of the ball. With Kyle Pitts set to become a free agent, that leaves Darnell Mooney as the team’s only other reliable pass-catcher, and even he had a down year in 2025.<\/p>\n

So without much wide receiver depth, the Falcons will have to add some players in the draft and free agency. While Atlanta doesn’t have a first-round pick this year, Pro Football Focus<\/a> identified the perfect second-round target to help in 2026.<\/p>\n

PFF: Georgia WR Zachariah Branch is Falcons’ perfect pick<\/p>\n

“The Falcons don\u2019t own their first-round pick after trading up with the Rams<\/a> in last year\u2019s draft to select edge defender James Pearce Jr. at No. 26 overall,” wrote PFF’s Max Chadwick<\/a>. “So, with their first selection coming in the second round, Atlanta should look to add more weapons to complement Drake London. The Falcons could find that answer right down the road with Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch. He\u2019s a dynamic player with the ball in his hands, having racked up the second-most yards after the catch among Power Four wideouts this season (634).”<\/p>\n

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Last season, Branch recorded 81 catches for 811 receiving yards and six touchdowns for the Bulldogs. As PFF pointed out, Branch doesn’t have elite size (5-foot-10, 180 pounds) but is dangerous in space.<\/p>\n

Falcons fans rejoiced when the team finally drafted a Georgia player in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Former Bulldogs linebacker Jalon Walker had a stellar rookie season, so it would make sense to go back to that same well in 2026.<\/p>\n

We’ll have to wait and see what Cunningham has up his sleeve. The 2026 NFL Draft kicks off on April 23.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Atlanta Falcons: Georgia WR Zachariah Branch named best draft fit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Atlanta Falcons are under new leadership, with head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Ian Cunningham replacing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":731662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2074],"tags":[223,254,2554,4127,6709,4130,224,7,53720,1486,703,8591,6153,6,2663,2660,33452],"class_list":["post-731661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-atlanta-falcons","tag-atlanta","tag-atlanta-falcons","tag-atlantafalcons","tag-bijan-robinson","tag-darnell-mooney","tag-drake-london","tag-falcons","tag-football","tag-ian-cunningham","tag-jalon-walker","tag-james-pearce-jr","tag-kevin-stefanski","tag-kyle-pitts","tag-nfl","tag-raheem-morris","tag-terry-fontenot","tag-zachariah-branch"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116019372481060987","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/731662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}