Third-rounder named Falcons' most surprising pick by CBS Sports

The reviews continue to pour in for the Atlanta Falcons' 2026 NFL draft class. For the most part, analysts don't like what they did and most rankings and grades have been on the lower end compared to the rest of the league.

One exception to the rule is Ryan Wilson at CBS Sports, who gave the Falcons an A- for their haul and ranked their class 14th-best in the NFL. However, he does have serious doubts about Atlanta's third-round pick, Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch - who he named their most-surprising pick.

"There's no denying that Zachariah Branch has game-changing talent. My issue is that he's 5-foot-8, didn't run a lot of routes at Georgia, and he's a body catcher, which effectively makes his already-small catch radius even smaller. But look, I get it – get him the ball and let him do the rest, and in an offense with Penix Jr. and/or Tagovailoa under center, Branch makes a lot of sense."

These are all fair points to make - and it seems Wilson believes the Falcons seriously reached for Branch, who he had ranked 147th overall but came off the board at No. 79.

Branch is small for an NFL receiver and he was mostly targeted at the line of scrimmage at Georgia - so he will need to prove that he can run a more diverse route tree at the next level to make the kind of impact the Falcons need from him.

That being said, even smaller players than Branch have made great careers for themselves. Darren Sproles was 5-foot-6, 190 pounds and made three Pro Bowls. Meanwhile, Brandin Cooks is the same size as Branch and he's just a couple of games away from reaching 10,000 receiving yards.