Zachariah Branch

The usage tells the whole story: 8 targets and 7 catches for 46 yards across the first five weeks of 2026, zero carries, zero touchdowns, and no week above 3.5 points. Our preseason pace had him at 4.2 a game, and even that modest number now looks generous given what the offense is actually giving him.

The path was always narrow. He went 79th overall in the 2026 draft, a rookie on an ATL depth chart where Drake London sits first and Jahan Dotson and Olamide Zaccheaus are ahead of him, and London and Kyle Pitts combined for 53% of the 2025 targets. A new coaching staff, Kevin Stefanski calling for the first time here with Tommy Rees running the offense, offered some hope of a redrawn pecking order, but five weeks in the pecking order looks very much intact and Branch is fourth among the wideouts. The credit is that he has played every week and carries no injury designation, so the issue is purely role, not availability.

Our preseason number was 50 points with a most-likely range of 32 to 68, and the way this season is running, the bottom of that range is the live scenario. Unless a London or Dotson absence forces him into a bigger role, there is no case for holding him on a roster during the season. Drop him, keep an eye on the target counts, and circle weeks 15 to 17 of 2026 against WSH, TB and NO if you must stash a deeper wideout instead.