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Zachariah Branch to Las Vegas Raiders: Why No. 36 Pick Could Land a Hometown Legend
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- Zachariah Branch to Las Vegas Raiders: Why No. 36 Pick Could Land a Hometown Legend
The Las Vegas Raiders enter the 2026 NFL Draft with more than one pick to worry about . Yes, the No. 1 overall selection gets most of the oxygen, but general manager John Spytek has nine other slots to fill.
Every draft prospect carries a story. Some follow fathers or grandfathers into the league. Others are the first in their family to make it. But one prospect in this class has ties to the Raiders that predate his own birth.
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Zachariah Branch Earned His Draft Stock the Hard Way
Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Wide receiver Zachariah Branch made the most of his junior season with the Georgia Bulldogs. In 14 games with 10 starts, he hauled in 81 receptions for 811 yards and six touchdowns while adding 10 kickoff returns for 205 yards and 13 punt returns for 157 yards on special teams.
The production earned him SEC Coaches All-SEC Second Team honors as a wide receiver and Third Team recognition as an all-purpose player. The media graded him higher, giving Branch All-SEC First Team honors.
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His Georgia debut set the tone. Branch caught three passes for 95 yards and a touchdown while adding three punt returns in his first game as a Bulldog.
Before Athens, Branch spent two seasons at USC , totaling 78 receptions for 823 yards and three touchdowns. That's also where he developed into a return specialist, adding five kickoff returns for 105 yards and 13 punt returns for 74 yards.
The breakout came after his freshman year, when Branch won the Jet Award as the nation's top return specialist. He led the Pac-12 with 16 punt returns for 332 yards and a touchdown and added 24 kick returns for 442 yards and a score. USA Today, PFF and Sporting News all named him a First Team return specialist. Phil Steele, Walter Camp, the FWAA, Sports Illustrated and FOX Sports followed with Second Team honors. The College Football Network named him Freshman Specialist of the Year and a Freshman All-American.
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The Branch Family Tree Runs Through Raider Nation
The Repository / Scott Heckel / USA TODAY NETWORK
If the last name rings a bell for longtime Raiders fans, it should.
Zachariah Branch is the nephew of Pro Football Hall of Famer Cliff Branch , the three-time Super Bowl champion receiver who spent his entire 14-year career in Silver and Black after being drafted in the fourth round in 1972. Cliff Branch earned three straight AP All-Pro First Team honors and was part of all three Raiders Super Bowl championships.
That included two touchdown catches in the 27-10 win over Philadelphia in Super Bowl XV and another score three years later in Super Bowl XVIII. His 1977 season capped a four-year run of Pro Bowl selections and six receiving touchdowns in four consecutive campaigns.
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Zachariah Branch Is Already Home in Las Vegas
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While his uncle was winning Super Bowls, Zachariah Branch was growing up in the shadow of what would become Raider Nation's home turf.
Branch attended Bishop Gorman High School — eight miles west of Allegiant Stadium — where he was the top-ranked wide receiver in Nevada and the No. 7 pass catcher nationally. That made him a five-star recruit and a top-10 overall prospect.
He backed it up. Branch won three straight 5A State Championships from 2021-23 and was named the MaxPreps Nevada Player of the Year in 2021 after catching 48 passes for 1,094 yards and 14 touchdowns. He wasn't just a football player, either — Branch won the Nevada Southern 5A Regional title in the 100, 200 and long jump as a sophomore that same year.
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If the Raiders call his name in the draft, he won't need directions to the stadium.
Why Zachariah Branch Fits What Klint Kubiak Is Building
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Branch arrived at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis and made his case. He ran a 4.35-second 40-yard dash — sixth-best among wide receivers — and posted a 38-inch vertical and a 10-foot-6 broad jump.
John Spytek has been paying attention. The Raiders general manager met with Branch at Georgia's Pro Day and again at the Combine, a sign that Las Vegas is doing its homework beyond the No. 1 pick.
The fit makes sense. Branch lined up all over Georgia's offense — at and behind the line of scrimmage — giving Kubiak a chess piece with real versatility. That's exactly the kind of receiver Kubiak deployed in Seattle , where Jaxson Smith-Njigba thrived moving around the formation. Branch's ability to break tackles and generate yards after the catch only adds to the profile.
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At 5-foot-9 with shorter arms, he'll need accurate quarterback play to reach his ceiling. That's a fair caveat. But the tools are there, and Spytek appears to know it.
Branch fits naturally alongside Jack Bech as a Day 2 target — a quick, versatile pass catcher who can contribute immediately in the return game while the Raiders build something bigger around their first overall pick.
The legacy connection to Cliff Branch is a great story. But Zachariah Branch is here to write his own.
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