Denzel Boston has had back-to-back great seasons at Washington, and his scouting report looks at why Boston has a chance to be one of the first wide receiver prospects selected in the NFL Draft, and how well his game might translate to the next level.
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Denzel Boston 2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report
Measurables:
Height- 6’4″
Weight- 210 lbs
Background:
Boston attended Emerald Ridge High School in Puyallup, Wash., where he was a three-star recruit. He played in four games in 2022 and played in 14 games in 2023, including the National Championship game. Boston became a full-time starter in 2024 and led the team in receiving touchdowns while finishing second on the team in both receptions and receiving yards. In 2025, Boston led the Huskies in all three major receiving categories and was named third-team All-Big Ten at wide receiver.
Strengths:
Boston has tremendous size for the position at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, and he has a good understanding of how to use his size and play strength to his advantage. He is a physical wide receiver who has great toughness and play strength.Boston has a good catch radius and is able to extend and make catches away from his body. He is an incredible contested catch wide receiver target. Boston can effectively box out defenders, and he aggressively attacks the football at the catch point.
With his size, play strength, body control, and contested catch ability, Boston is one of the best red zone receivers in the 2026 draft class. He had amazing touchdown production at Washington, scoring 20 total touchdowns over the last two seasons. Boston has very strong and reliable hands overall, with very few drops in his college career. Boston is also a strong and willing blocker.
Weaknesses:
Boston is not a receiver who is able to consistently create a ton of separation. He is a good athlete, especially at his size, but Boston lacks top-tier explosiveness, quickness, and change-of-direction ability. With the ball in his hands after the catch, Boston has good power and contact balance to potentially pick up extra yards, but he doesn’t have the explosiveness or high–level elusiveness to be a consistently dangerous receiver after the catch.
Potential Team Fits:
Pittsburgh Steelers
Cleveland Browns
Buffalo Bills
NFL Projection:
Boston is a strong and physical receiverwith great size. He is arguably the best contested catch receiver and red zone target in the entire 2026 draft class. Boston has strong and reliable hands and has strong blocking ability as well. However, Boston is not able to consistently create separation at a high level. He doesn’t have elite quickness or explosiveness either, but Boston does have solid build-up speed and the ability to be a good deep ball threat for an offense at the NFL level.
Despite not having great separation skills, his combination of strong and reliable hands, contested catch ability, and the ability to be a good deep ball and red zone target gives Boston the potential to be an impactful starting receiver at the next level. Boston has the ability to be a solid contributor as a rookie, and he has the talent to potentially develop into a great starting receiver in the NFL.
Read More: Full 2026 NFL Draft Big Board
Prospect Grade:
Second Round
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