Even before Denzel Boston declared his intentions to enter the NFL draft on Wednesday morning, his name has become very popular with analysts.
On Pro Football Focus’ NFL Stock Exchange podcast, hosts Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers both ranked Boston, who pulled in 62 catches for 881 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2025, as wide receiver No. 4 in their early preview of the 2026 class. The 6-foot-4, 209-pound local product of Emerald Ridge High School in Puyallup, Washington, slotted in behind a consensus top three for the PFF analysts of Arizona State‘s Jordyn Tyson, Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, and USC’s Mekhi Lemon.
Although Boston was limited by an ankle injury for the final month of the regular season, he stood out with not just his ability as a pass catcher, but with the value he provides in the run game as well.
“I think he’s the best run blocking wide receiver in the draft,” Rogers said. “He’s going to be a little stiff sometimes for some people; he’s not going to be this short-area quick kind of guy, but this is a skill set that’s going to be highly desirable because of his size and that he plays to every bit of this size.”
“He tracks and catches the ball at its high point, and I loved the way Washington used him…They’ll hide him in the backfield sometimes, and he can run routes out of the backfield or in condensed formations. They trusted this guy in every single role. Big, reliable hands…He’s a mismatch threat in the red zone. Over the last two seasons, he’s caught 20 touchdowns.”
The show highlighted his 59.4 contested catch win rate, which ranks in the 93rd percentile among all college receivers, while he was able to achieve separation from his defender on 73.9 percent of his routes, and dropped just 3.8 percent of the targets thrown his way this season.
“You have the size, you have the contested catch ability, you have some nice footwork off the line of scrimmage in his releases against press, he can block, but he also gives you something a little bit extra as a route runner,” Sikkema added. “For him to be the size that he is but to have an above 50th percent separation percentile, I’m good with it. I’m good with him against man coverage.”
Assuming Boston does declare, it feels like a very safe bet to say that he will hear his name called at some point in the first round, since he has the necessary skill set to establish himself as a WR1 at the next level.