Fact or Fiction: Zachariah Branch will finish as No. 1 WR in 2023
Rivals national recruiting analyst Clint Cosgrove and Ryan Wright, along with Jon McNamara of BadgerBlitz.com and Tim O'Halloran of EdgyTim.com tackle three topics and determine where they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
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CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
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CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals100
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1. Zachariah Branch has a legitimate shot at finishing as the top-ranked receiver in the 2023 class.
Cosgrove's take: FICTION. Zachariah Branch was phenomenal at the Rivals Camp Series event in Los Angeles prior to this season and word out of Orlando was that his performance during the Under Armour All-American Game week was one worthy of a top receiver in the 2023 class.
Branch has every tool to be a game changer at the college level and beyond, but as talented as he may be, his lack of size makes his case for the No. 1 receiver spot hard for me to rationalize right now. Branch could very well end up having the best career out of the 2023 receiver group, but I see either Brandon Inniss or Carnell Tate taking the top receiver spot as things stand today.
Wright’s take: FACT. The receiver spot is one of the more fluid positions to evaluate. Size is a requirement, but speed, route running, hands and production are the backbone of the position and Branch has it all. For years I have scouted Branch in games, practices, 7-on-7 events, camps and at the UA Next All-America event. He never disappoints. No matter the field and who is on it, Branch will be one of the fastest if not the fastest. No matter who lines up across from him, that defensive back will get burnt.
Inniss and Tate are destined for great things at Ohio State and beyond. When Branch is done at USC, he could hold numerous records and be a Heisman finalist if the Trojans use his speed on special teams.
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2. The work Wisconsin is currently doing in the transfer portal will become the norm under Luke Fickell.
Cosgrove's take: FICTION. We knew that Wisconsin would be forced into the transfer portal during the 2023 recruiting cycle due to the timing of Luke Fickell's hire and the number of immediate holes that needed to be filled at positions such as quarterback. That being said, I don't think we expected the Badgers to utilize or have the amount of success they've had in the portal to the extent we've seen thus far.
This tells me that Fickell and staff saw a number of deficiencies in the current roster and felt the need for plug-and-play players in order to be competitive during year one of the Fickell era. I see this year's work in the portal as being an exception to the rule, and once they feel the roster has enough talent to compete for a Big Ten Championship, we will see the new Wisconsin staff build the roster with high school talent moving forward.
McNamara's take: FICTION. Luke Fickell and his staff have been red hot in the transfer portal this winter. As of Tuesday, the Badgers have landed 13 scholarship commitments, a group headlined by former four-star prospects CJ Williams, Nick Evers and Braedyn Locke. Wisconsin likely also found immediate starters in Tanner Mordecai (quarterback), Jason Maitre (nickel corner), Jake Renfro (center), Nathanial Vakos (kicker) and Bryson Green (wide receiver).
Despite the success over the last few weeks, I don’t expect this to be a yearly tradition under Fickell. UW’s first-year head coach is on record saying as much.
“I do not want to be a transfer team,” Fickell told reporters in early December. “I’m a high school recruiting guy that says it’s about development of young men.”
Will the Badgers use the portal to fill holes on a yearly basis? Absolutely, but I would be surprised to see that number hit double digits moving forward. Instead, Wisconsin will put a large emphasis on recruiting and player development, two key pillars this program was built on.
RELATED: How each Big Ten team fared in the transfer portal's early window
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3. Class of 2025 WR Talyn Taylor will be the next five-star player to come out of Illinois.
Cosgrove's take: FACT. This is a hard one because there are a number of elite prospects in both the 2024 and 2025 Illinois classes. The 2025 class alone has three players who made the initial top 100 in No. 18 Iosa Epenesa, No. 32 Jaylen Williams and No. 68 Gabe Kaminski.
Talyn Taylor didn't make the initial top 100, but after seeing him compete at showcases over the weekend, I cannot help but picture him as a five-star player in the making. The Geneva, (Ill.) receiver reminds me of Carnell Tate at the same age and one could argue that he is even further along in his development than Tate was at the same point in his football career. Whether Taylor ends up a five-star or not remains to be seen, but I can pretty much guarantee that he will be in that discussion and will undoubtedly be a national recruit in the 2025 class.
O'Halloran's take: FICTION. It's still a bit mind boggling to see Talyn Taylor, still just a sophomore, make plays and show such a high level of athleticism, body control, awareness along with possessing a frame and physical tools of an already made college player. Impressive. Taylor has a lot to offer right now and deserves the early smoke, but I also feel he still has some development left ahead of him.
Getting to see him match up this winter and spring on the 7-on-7 circuit for Boom Midwest will be important viewing, then seeing him carrying those lessons into his summer camps, then fall season, will give me a much clearer picture.