Over the next couple of weeks, we here at Bulldawg Illustrated are going to be looking at Georgia football’s incoming freshman class of 2020 in a new series called First Year Look. The Bulldogs’ 2020 class features 25 signees that collectively finished as the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, according to 247Sports and Rivals.

We’ve already taken a look at Carson Beck and Kendall Milton. Today, we’re going to look at three-star defensive back Daran Branch.

Branch committed to UGA back on Feb, 5, 2020 after the Bulldogs’ head coach Kirby Smart and his staff flipped his decision from Ole Miss. According to the 247Sports industry-generated composite rankings, Branch ranks as the No. 672 overall player in the country, No. 50 cornerback, and and No. 29 in Louisiana.

Towards the end of the 2020 recruiting cycle it became clear that the Bulldogs needed more defensive backs, and that’s when the UGA staff went hard after Branch. Former Ole Miss head coach and current Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke had a lot to do with the flip. Their previous relationship helped make Branch’s decision to decommit from the Rebels easier.

Towards the end of the 2020 recruiting cycle it became clear that the Bulldogs needed more defensive backs, and that’s when the UGA staff went hard after Branch. Former Ole Miss head coach and current Georgia offensive line coach Matt Luke had a lot to do with the flip. Their previous relationship helped make Branch’s decision to decommit from the Rebels easier.

The Amite, LA native is listed as a cornerback across several recruiting sites, but there’s a good chance that he won’t play that position in Athens. It’s expected that Branch might get some work at safety or the STAR/nickel position. He is listed as weighing 178 pounds, so he is definitely going to bulk up this summer to get him ready for the season. The Bulldogs could use some depth at safety and we feel like he will fit right in at that spot.

But don’t expect for Branch to make such an impact right away because Georgia’s secondary is loaded going into the fall. We expect him to redshirt this upcoming season, but still get some playing time in ‘garbage time’ at the end of games. He needs a year in the system to develop and expect him to make an impact later down the road. He has a lot of high upside, but it needs to be molded. Branch and 2020 signee Major Burns could be the face of the Georgia secondary in a couple of years. It’s just that the safety position at Georgia is already so experienced, and that these two youngsters won’t be needed to make such an impact right away.