{"id":232934,"date":"2025-07-24T18:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/232934\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T18:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:05:10","slug":"todd-mcshay-explains-why-denzel-boston-could-be-a-potential-first-round-pick-in-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/232934\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd McShay explains why Denzel Boston could be a potential first-round pick in 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington<\/a> WR Denzel Boston<\/a> got the chance to emerge last season in Seattle. He\u2019ll have the opportunity to continue that as a senior and, with it, try to get his stock as high as being a first-round pick in the NFL Draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Todd McShay named Boston as a top-seven receiver for the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> earlier this week on \u2018The McShay Show\u2019<\/a>. That\u2019s with a standard evaluation of him as a prospect that has a lot of traits that would make him, if nothing else, reliable as a pro receiver.<\/p>\n

\u201cDenzel Boston, Washington receiver. 6\u20194, 210. Really intriguing frame, right,\u201d said McShay. \u201cEstimated 4.52 so like, good enough speed for his size, not a burner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, versus man coverage, one-on-one, he was really, really good. I thought he was okay, solid with like the zone stuff. Caught the ball extremely well \u2013 three drops last year. That\u2019s it \u2013 4.5%. He was up there, like, I don\u2019t know, high 80 percentile, whatever it was. Big, strong receiver. Uses quick feet and physicality, that combination. Not a burner, he\u2019s not going to get guys backed off and worried but it\u2019s this quick feet at the top of the stem with a little, you know, to get separation. I didn\u2019t see much as a vertical guy, not huge after the catch but drags defenders, generates extra yards with his strength. But, my goodness, he\u2019s just reliable \u2013 as a route runner, catching the football. Is excellent \u2013 not good, excellent \u2013 on contested catches. Knows how to body guys. Strong frame, strong hands. I just kept writing the same notes \u2013 big, physical, tightly-packed, sturdy, not explosive, not fast, but good contested, strong in traffic, reliable hands. It\u2019s all the same notes, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over his first two seasons, Boston caught seven passes for 66 yards. Then, after the changes going into his redshirt sophomore year, Boston blew up with 63 receptions for 834 yards and nine touchdowns as the Huskies\u2019 second-leading receiver while leading the team in receiving scores.<\/p>\n

Now, more changes are coming into his junior year. That starts with Boston with another season of development and as their leading returning wideout and the third-leading receiver returning to the Big Ten. He\u2019ll also have someone new throwing him the football with the excitement around their new, sophomore starter in QB Demond Williams Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s entering now his fourth year at UW. He combined for just seven catches his first two seasons, 2022, 2023. Play back the tape. You\u2019ve got Rome Odunze<\/a>, Ja\u2019Lynn Polk<\/a>, and Jalen McMillan<\/a>. But, in 2024, those guys move on. He has a breakout year,\u201d said McShay. \u201cI\u2019m excited to see this year. Like, this is the step up year because last year\u2019s leading receiver, Giles Jackson<\/a>, is gone. And so now it\u2019s his receiver room. And so it\u2019s his second year as a full-time starter, his receiver room\u2026He might not have as many catches, maybe he does but my guess is he\u2019s going to have somer bigger play opportunities. So that\u2019s that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDemond Williams? More of a runner at this point than, like, pure passer. But, I told you at Manning Passing Academy, he stood out. Like, really athletic, big arm,\u201d added McShay.<\/p>\n

Boston put his name on draft boards with his production last fall. His next could then put him in position to hear his name called on night one of draft come April, McShay thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cI give him an 82 grade but, like, recognize that a second-year, full-time starter? It wouldn\u2019t shock me if we were talking late first for this guy when it\u2019s all said and done,\u201d McShay said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Washington WR Denzel Boston got the chance to emerge last season in Seattle. He\u2019ll have the opportunity to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[20644,7,6,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-232934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-denzel-boston-22-emerald-ridge","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-nfl-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114909539856903218","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}