Cleveland Browns WR Denzel Boston has been named a candidate to win the 2026 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award by Moe Moton of Bleacher Report.

The Browns selected Boston with the 39th overall pick in the 2026 draft out of Washington.

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“At 6’4, 212 pounds, Denzel Boston is physically equipped to be an immediate red-zone threat, which makes him a more likely Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate than fellow rookie wideout KC Concepcion, who’s 6’0″, 196 pounds,” Moton wrote. “Aside from red-zone targets, Boston will have opportunities to earn a starting role alongside Jerry Jeudy. … Similar to Carolina Panthers wideout Tetairoa McMillan, who won the 2025 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Boston could emerge as a big-target perimeter playmaker.”

For Washington in 2025, Boston put up 62 receptions for 881 receiving yards and 11 receiving touchdowns. He finished his college career with 132 receptions for 1,781 receiving yards and 20 receiving touchdowns.

B/R scout Damian Parson noted Boston’s contested catch ability, which could be important for the Browns since Deshaun Watson is expected to start and could be rusty.

After all, Watson didn’t play at all last season.

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“Boston is known for his outstanding body control and ball skills, which enable him to consistently win contested catches,” Parson wrote. “Boston tracks the football well as he works further down the field.”

The Browns got an elite competitor in Boston. After he was considered a consensus first-round pick throughout the draft process, Boston’s fall out of the first round may add a chip on his shoulder as he looks to make his mark at the next level.

“My whole goal when I go against a defender is I don’t want him to be able to go home and be happy to be around his family,” Boston said in an interview on 92.3 The Fan. “I want him to feel that from that game. That’s the mentality that I’m bringing to the Cleveland Browns.”

Boston could make an immediate impact in the red zone, where his size, reliable hands and hard-nosed mentality could help the Browns take a long-awaited step forward in the AFC North.

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