{"id":862793,"date":"2026-04-10T03:09:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T03:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/862793\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T03:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T03:09:20","slug":"patriots-predicted-to-add-1781-yard-wide-receiver-in-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/862793\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots Predicted to Add 1,781-Yard Wide Receiver in NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"520\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2243306932.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Denzel Boston Washington Huskies\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The New England Patriots are being projected to select Washington Huskies wide receiver Denzel Boston in the NFL Draft, giving Drake Maye a new weapon.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few clear needs for the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/new-england-patriots\/\" title=\"New England Patriots\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"220923\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New England Patriots<\/a> to address in the upcoming NFL Draft. Among those is wide receiver, and finding new weapons for <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/drake-maye\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Drake Maye<\/a> to throw the ball to as he continues to develop in his third season.<\/p>\n<p>Mock drafts are coming in left and right this time of year. One of those, which comes from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nfl\/draft\/news\/2026-nfl-mock-draft-pro-day-fernando-mendoza\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Garrett Podell of CBS Sports<\/a>, has the Patriots adding Denzel Boston, a star receiver who played for the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/college-football\/washington-huskies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Washington Huskies<\/a>, in the first round.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDenzel Boston is a tank who can line up in the slot and outside and blow through press coverage, and 2025 NFL MVP runner up Drake Maye will certainly enjoy having him to throw to in addition to free agency acquisition Romeo Doubs,\u201d Podell wrote.<\/p>\n<p>In general, mock drafts are divided on what the Patriots should do with the No. 31 overall pick. Offensive line and edge rusher are both also clear needs that could be the focus of the first round. However, if the board doesn\u2019t break New England\u2019s way, then wide receiver is also a position of need, particularly with <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/a-j-brown\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">A.J. Brown<\/a> still a rumor and a need to replace the production that <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/stefon-diggs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Stefon Diggs<\/a> had a season ago.<\/p>\n<p>Everything to Know About Denzel Boston<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5895791\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5895791\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2239258604.jpg\" alt=\"Denzel Boston Washington Huskies\" width=\"782\" height=\"441\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5895791\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GettyWashington Huskies wide receiver Denzel Boston<\/p>\n<p>An Idaho native, Denzel Boston was a little overlooked coming out of high school. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/denzel-boston-34295\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">On3 listed him<\/a> as a three-star recruit and the 134th-ranked wide receiver in the Class of 2022. He would decide to go to Washington over options that included <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/mens-college-basketball\/arizona-wildcats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Arizona<\/a> and Washington State, turning himself into a potential first-round pick in the process.<\/p>\n<p>When Boston first got to Washington, he found himself playing behind several future NFL receivers. Among them were <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/rome-odunze\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Rome Odunze<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/jalen-mcmillan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Jalen McMillan<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nfl\/player\/jalynn-polk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Ja\u2019Lynn Polk<\/a>. Polk, of course, would become a second-round pick for the Patriots before they traded him and a seventh-round pick to the <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/new-orleans-saints\/\" title=\"New Orleans Saints\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"220924\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New Orleans Saints<\/a> for a sixth-round pick.<\/p>\n<p>It wouldn\u2019t be until his redshirt sophomore season in 2024 that Boston saw significant playing time for the Huskies. When he got that chance, he thrived, going for better than 60 receptions and 800 yards in back-to-back seasons.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, Boston played in 43 college games, racking up 132 receptions for 1,781 yards in his career with 20 touchdowns. That\u2019s 13.5 yards per reception. He also returned punts, averaging 8.5 yards with a touchdown return.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Vrabel Was Vague When Asked About the Patriots\u2019 First-Round Pick<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5884967\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5884967\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775790560_714_GettyImages-2201927694.jpg\" alt=\"Mike Vrabel New England Patriots\" width=\"782\" height=\"441\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5884967\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GettyNew England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel<\/p>\n<p>There are still plenty of questions for the New England Patriots to answer ahead of the NFL Draft. That includes if they\u2019re going to stay and pick at No. 31 or make a trade of some kind.<\/p>\n<p>If there was any hope that Mike Vrabel might have some insight as the head coach, he wasn\u2019t willing to share it. Instead, Vrabel made it clear that all options are on the table with that pick.<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">\u201cMaybe we trade up. Maybe we trade out. I don\u2019t know,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/new-england-patriots\/mike-vrabel-plans-first-round-pick\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/new-england-patriots\/mike-vrabel-plans-first-round-pick\/\">Vrabel recently said<\/a>. \u201cBut I love being able to work with Eliot and Ryan and their staff, and coaches, and try to bring that together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-mrf-recirculation=\"Articles \/ Paragraph Links\">The NFL Draft is now less than two weeks away. The first round is scheduled to take place on April 23rd, with the second and third rounds coming on April 24th and the remainder of the draft wrapping up on April 25th.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/danmorr96\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dan Morrison<\/a> After graduating from UMass in 2019, Dan Morrison quickly began a career in sports journalism and digital media. That has seen him work both as a contributing writer at several publications, as well as spending time on the National News Desk at On3. During that time, he has spent the majority of his time covering football, both at the college and NFL levels. Currently residing in Central Florida, his focus with Heavy is on the NFL. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/danmorr96\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Dan Morrison<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Patriots\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The New England Patriots are being projected to select Washington Huskies wide receiver Denzel Boston in the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":862794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-862793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-england","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-newengland","12":"tag-newenglandpatriots","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-patriots"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116378218044006865","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862793","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=862793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}