Ex-Georgia WR Zachariah Branch, likely NFL Draft pick, arrested in Athens

Former Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch, who is expected to be selected in this week’s NFL Draft, was arrested and booked on two misdemeanor charges early Sunday morning in Athens, Ga.

The 22-year-old was charged with “obstructing public sidewalks/streets — prowling” and “obstruction of a law enforcement officer,” both misdemeanors, according to Athens-Clarke County arrest records. He was arrested and booked at 1:26 a.m., posted $39 in bond payments and was released roughly two hours later, online records show.

Branch was rated as a four-star recruit coming out of Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas and played his first two collegiate seasons with the USC Trojans. He transferred to Georgia ahead of the 2025 season and finished with a team-high 81 receptions for 811 yards and six touchdowns.

The 5-foot-9, 177-pound pass catcher ran a 4.35-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler rated him the 14th-best receiver in the 2026 class. Brugler gave Branch a third-round grade, highlighting his “dynamic speed and the linear twitch to threaten the defense before and after the catch.”

“There is a lot of good-faith projection required to envision him as more than a gadget player,” Brugler wrote in “The Beast.” “He projects as a versatile slot receiver with return value (in the Rondale Moore mold).”