Earlier this week Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch was arrested in Athens. The shock of that news sent waves across the NFL as everyone wondered how that would impact his draft stock with the NFL Draft beginning just a few days later.
Ultimately it ended up not impacting his draft stock at all as he was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round with the 79th overall pick.
This is where most experts believed he would be drafted, so that proves that his arrest did not impact his stock whatsoever. But to confirm that even more, Falcons beat writer Garrett Chapman confirmed his arrest "did not affect the Falcons' evaluation of Zachariah Branch."
The incident in Athens earlier this week did not affect the Falcons' evaluation of Zachariah Branch.
— Garrett Chapman (@gchapatl) April 25, 2026
Final verdict on Zachariah Branch's arrest at the NFL Draft
As details came out about Branch's arrest it became more and more clear how irrelevant this was to his draft stock. The police department revealed that Branch didn't move far enough off the sidewalk after an officer asked him to, and even though fights were breaking out (that he was not involved in) he was still somehow arrested.
While these details made it very clear that this arrest shouldn't be held against him, no one knew what NFL organizations would do. Would this scare them off? Or would they move past this just like everyone else?
It turns out that the Falcons did not care about his arrest in the slightest as they drafted Branch in the spot most experts had him projected to go.
So what started as a terrible week for Branch turned into one of the best of his life. Not only has he accomplished his dream of making it to the NFL, but he gets to go to the Falcons who is the organization most Georgia fans cheer for.
He will be a fan-favorite in Atlanta from day one, and that is thanks to the Falcons not letting a pointless arrest impact their decision making.
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