- Boston is about to turn into Washington’s newest high extensive receiver draft decide: Following in Rome Odunze’s and Ja’Lynn Polk’s footsteps, Boston is on monitor to be a top-100 choice within the 2026 NFL Draft.
- Rebounding from a quiet finish to 2024: Among the few negatives on Boston’s profile is his lackluster manufacturing to cap the 2024 marketing campaign after a scorching begin. How he responds in 2025 shall be one thing to observe.
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The Washington Huskies soccer program had its fingerprints everywhere in the 2024 NFL Draft. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. went No. 8 total, and extensive receiver Rome Odunze got here off the board quickly after at No. 9. Later, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan had been picked within the high 100.
Fast-forward a 12 months, and one other Washington receiver — one who patiently waited behind a few of these gamers to showcase his skillset — is making headlines. Denzel Boston, in simply his first 12 months as a full-time starter in 2024, flashed true NFL capacity and enters the 2025 season as a top-five extensive receiver total in my early rankings, in addition to my No. 1 X receiver.
Boston was a three-star recruit within the 2022 class. He performed sparingly behind Washington’s trio of future NFL receivers in 2022 and 2023 however logged greater than 750 receiving snaps in 2024 and earned a 77.5 PFF receiving grade on the season.
At 6-foot-4 and 209 kilos, Boston ranks within the 91st percentile in peak and the 68th percentile in weight amongst NFL wideouts. He performed 707 snaps out extensive and 68 snaps within the slot in 2024. He positioned simply above the 88th percentile in PFF Game Athleticism Score in 2023, albeit on a small pattern dimension, earlier than upping that mark in 2024 on extra snaps to just about the 93rd percentile. Boston’s high pace isn’t a calling card of his recreation, as he went previous 20 mph on simply three performs final season, however he was persistently quick total, racking up 205 performs the place he was clocked between 15-20 mph.
For now, Boston’s stats do not leap out. He did log 834 receiving yards with a team-high 9 receiving touchdowns in 2024, however eight scores got here within the first six weeks of the season. In the second half of the marketing campaign, he recorded fewer than 50 receiving yards in six of his remaining seven outings. That could possibly be a product of defenses keying in on him after his scorching begin. How Boston responds shall be one thing to watch in 2025.
Denzel Boston’s 2024 PFF Game Grades
It’s the expertise on movie quite than the numbers that impresses me, although. For a giant receiver, Boston will not be sluggish out of his stance and eats up cushion shortly towards off protection. He additionally has first rate sharpness in his route lower, and can even pull some double strikes on unsuspecting defenders. He brings dependable arms, hauling in 95.6% of his catchable targets (104) and recording a robust 52.2% contested-catch price (25 targets).
Boston maximizes his huge catch radius with robust arms and good hand-eye coordination, and he has an after-the-catch mentality, notching 333 receiving yards after the catch on 837 whole yards. Perhaps much more spectacular than his strengths are his few true weaknesses. Outside of Boston’s manufacturing dip as soon as defenses paid him further consideration, he put little on tape to counsel he will not be a high quality NFL receiver. That’s to not say he was excellent, however his early scouting profile doesn’t characteristic quite a lot of roadblocks — solely areas the place he could possibly be extra constant.
Boston needed to wait his flip behind three future top-100 draft picks, however now he’s proving to be one himself, maybe as the very best X receiver within the 2026 NFL Draft class.