1.6: WR Zachariah Branch, 72 OVR
Development Chance: High, projected 8-10 ddt points
With the sixth pick of the PML draft, the Giants selected wide receiver Zachariah Branch out of Georgia. This pick was quite unexpected at the time and was sent in very fast. With the way that the Giants had their board set up, Branch along with half back Love were two of their top 5. Realistically, they sent out a smoke screen with the statement that Dart wouldn’t be the quarterback for this upcoming season hoping that quarterbacks would be taken in front of them. Unless Sellers fell to pick 6, this pick wasn’t going to be a quarterback. The decision to choose Branch or Love came down to who was already on the roster. Love was a complete back with elite speed, but the Giants just traded for Mitchell and it felt like a wasted trade if Love was taken when Branch was still sitting here. Outside of Downs, Branks was the top prospect on their board.
With the hope that he could be 99 speed, Coach Burn wanted to give this team two young receivers for the entire cycle. The Giants have speed at receiver, but the type of speed that 99 could bring is too hard to pass up, especially with Nabers on your team. The pick was made and although Branch didn’t have 99 speed, he came out of the gate with 98 speed, 94 acceleration, 96 agility, and 97 change of direction, mixed with 90 jumping. This was perfect and now gave the Giants a tandem of elite speed receivers that teams will have to game plan for. This will open up the run game that has been seriously lacking.
Branch’s development could be seriously boosted depending on the random results of the development draft tool. Nothing is guaranteed, but he checks off a lot of the boxes for this tool. The hope is that he gets SSXF but any trait is better than nothing.
