Arguably Georgia's best offensive player this season was Zachariah Branch. He quickly became Gunner Stockton's No. 1 target this year, so much so that he set the single season receptions record at Georgia with 81 catches.
Branch still has one more season of college eligibility remaining that he could use to return to Georgia, but Branch decided against that as he declared for the NFL Draft on Monday.
Zachariah Branch’s NFL Draft announcement came at the perfect time
This decision was expected from Branch. Obviously everyone was hoping he would return, but his draft stock will never be higher and returning to college was too much of a risk to his pro career.
Branch however did Georgia one big favor when he announced his NFL Draft decision.
Branch announced his plans to head to the NFL very early in the offseason. He technically still had plenty of time to decide if he was going to the NFL or returning to Georgia, but he made this decision about as fast as he could. This is a huge benefit to Georgia because it will help them in the Transfer Portal as they look to add multiple wide receivers heading into next season.
It would be hard to convince any wide receiver to come to Georgia if Branch was returning to UGA. He just set the single season receptions record so it would've been assumed that he would be a big target for Georgia again next season. But Branch declaring for the draft before many transfers have committed to their new school will allow Georgia to sell them on the season Branch just had as a possibility for them.
So while the best scenario was Branch returning for one more season, his decision to declare for the NFL Draft this soon is a big benefit to Georgia.