Who has helped Zachariah Branch learn how to play football at an elite level? His answer to USC legend Matt Leinart in a recent interview was illuminating.
Branch said, “I definitely would say [I look up to] Reggie (Bush), not only because it’s USC — I always grew up a USC fan — but he does have a lot of play style like me, I would say, as well. Just growing up as a kid, I was kind of doing the same stuff that you see me doing now at a younger age, so when I see him doing it at a high level, I definitely wanted to take some notes from him.
“And then not necessarily players of my comparison, but I watch a lot of Larry Fitzgerald just because he’s so technically sound and he’s been so consistent in the NFL for over 15 years. So I watch a lot of him. I would say DeAndre Hopkins was one of my favorite receivers for awhile, Davante Adams, and then now that there’s a lot of new guys coming in, I definitely do watch Tyreek Hill, try to see how he works, because he’s putting up crazy numbers. A lot of different guys, but those guys definitely stood out to me throughout my career.”
Catch all of Ducks Wire’s Pac-12 team previews for the 2023 season:
Arizona — Arizona State — California — Colorado — Oregon State — Stanford — UCLA — USC — Utah — Washington — Washington State