Washington WR Denzel Boston Scouting Report
Moss 'Em Boston
Image 1: WR Denzel Boston (12) making a play with as a ball carrier
Height: 6’4
Weight: 209
Position: WR
Year: (RS) Jr
Background
Image 2: WR Denzel Boston (2) during his time with Emerald Ridge High School
Born on December 6th, 2003, Denzel Boston was a Three-Star WR prospect in the class of 2022 coming out of Emerald Ridge High School in Puyallap, Washington. Ranked as the 146th WR and 17th player in Washington, Boston was an under-recruited prospect with only 6 offers in his senior year. While he had offers from other West Coast P4 programs, Boston stayed local and committed to Washington.
As a Huskie, Boston saw limited playing time early on in his career with Washington having several quality WRs ahead of him on the depth chart (Ex. Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk, Jalen McMillan, and Germie Bernard). With most of the talent on Washington leaving for the draft or Alabama with the departure of HC Kalen DeBoer, Boston seized this opportunity and established himself as a WR2 behind veteran Giles Jackson. Though he was draft eligible, Boston returned to Washington to have another year as a starter and become Washington’s WR1. In his (RS) junior season, Boston produced an impressive season, leading Washington in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Entering the 2026 NFL draft, Boston’s size makes him an intriguing prospect for teams wanting to add length to their receiving corps.
Athletic Tools
With great positional height and length, Denzel Boston fits the HWL thresholds teams look for in an X-WR. By being longer and bigger than most DBs, Boston does a great job of using his frame and hands to get separation off the LOS or at the stem of routes. For a player that lacks rare fluidity or movement for his size, Boston’s willingness to play physical as a route runner will help him separate in the NFL. Though his RAC/YAC ability is not great, Boston is capable of occasionally breaking tackles by simply being larger than the defenders pursuing him.
Video 1: WR Denzel Boston (12) uses his hands off the LOS and stacks the DB
Video 2: WR Denzel Boston (12) pushes off at the stem and gets open
Video 3: WR Denzel Boston (12) gets rerouted and remains in stride
Video 4: WR Denzel Boston (12) hand fights at the stem and gets open
Video 5: WR Denzel Boston (12) breaks several arm tackles and continues moving forward
As an athlete, Boston has solid build-up speed when he is given a runway. For teams playing off-coverage, Boston’s top speed and long strides should let him eat up cushions and threaten deep on coverages. While he lacks the true game-changing deep speed to break off huge explosive gains through the air, Boston has enough athletic juice to not be a useless player down the field.
Video 6: WR Denzel Boston (12) stretches the field vertically when given space to run
Video 7: WR Denzel Boston (12) runs past the coverage and fails to make the difficult catch
Beyond solid vertical speed, Boston has very little going for him athletically. With a poor first step and lateral fluidity, Boston is a very limited RAC/YAC player. Even when given clear lanes to cut into, Boston lacks the athletic juice and fluidity as a mover to do more than move forward and get tackled. Not only does his lack of fluidity create issues as a ball carrier, but it also creates issues as a separator. With slower lateral movements, Boston struggles to separate from DBs on in and out breaking concepts when attempting to speed cut. Boston’s only positive trait is his deceleration for a player his size. By being able to throttle down and drive his hips well, Boston is capable of square-cutting into breaks or running comebacks.
Video 8: WR Denzel Boston (12) catches a bubble screen and lacks the speed to win the edge
Video 9: WR Denzel Boston (12) moves in a straight line and gets tackled
Video 10: WR Denzel Boston (12) attempts to decelerate to cut back, but he cannot get back into the open field
Video 11: WR Denzel Boston (12) catches the ball on a pick play, but he lacks the first step to pull away for RAC/YAC
Video 12: WR Denzel Boston (12) runs a whip route with a lot of hitches and cannot get open
Video 13: WR Denzel Boston (12) rounds the break when speed cutting the dig
Video 14: WR Denzel Boston (12) decelerates well at the stem of the route
Video 15: WR Denzel Boston (12) decelerates and square cuts the out
Beyond lacking great athletic tools, Boston’s thin frame for his height creates issues against man coverage. With good separators, either having high-end size and/or lateral quickness to beat press, Boston lacks the tools needed to be a reliable man-beater in the NFL. By being tall, thin, and unexplosive, Boston has moments where press coverage can stall him at the LOS and remove him from plays. With a lot of his draft value stemming from his projection as an X-WR, Boston is too poor a player against press coverage to be a great player in this role.
Video 16: WR Denzel Boston (12) gets stalled by press off the LOS and can’t stack the DB
Video 17: WR Denzel Boston (12) gets pressed by the DB and gets off the timing of the route
Video 18: WR Denzel Boston (12) releases inside, but he lacks the speed and acceleration to pull away from the DB
Video 19: WR Denzel Boston (12) gets blanketed off the LOS by the DB
Video 20: WR Denzel Boston (12) releases outside and gets pushed out of the play by the DB
Even though Washington used him heavily in a power-slot role, Boston is not great when projecting inside. Despite being a bigger WR, Boston is a mediocre blocker whose lack of size, play strength, and motor limits his ability to contribute in the run game. With the inability to block bigger defenders like LBs or EDGEs, Boston does not provide much more of a blocking advantage than smaller, more athletic Slot WRs. Beyond blocking, Boston lacks the lateral quickness to benefit from free releases and the space created from being off the LOS.
Video 21: WR Denzel Boston (12) tries to block the DB and gets hip tossed
Video 22: WR Denzel Boston (12) climbs to the second level and fails to seal off the DB
Video 23: WR Denzel Boston (12) fails to get open in the slot after faking inside
Technicals
As a technical prospect, Boston attempts to use various fakes and false steps to get open, but he lacks the fluidity to get DBs to bite. Lacking the fluidity to fake in stride or exhibit exaggerated movements, Boston lacks the movement skills necessary to be a great technician as a route runner. Combined with his issues with getting out of his breaks when not square-cutting, Boston is unlikely to turn into a quality NFL separator. While he has the physicality and length to be an aggressive hand-fighter, Boston lacks the size and strength to be great at this. Even if he can match up well on smaller DBs, Boston is going to have difficult match-ups with DBs who have the length/size to counter Boston’s hand fighting (Ex. JPJ, Mike Jackson, Jaycee Horn).
Video 24: WR Denzel Boston (12) does not sell that he is going vertically or out well
Video 25: WR Denzel Boston (12) attempts to fake outside and can’t get the DB to bite
As a ball skills prospect, Boston is very intriguing. With long arms and solid tracking, Boston does a good job of securing passes outside his frame. By having solid body control and great length, Boston has some highlight moments, making catches in traffic. However, Boston is not a super consistent 50/50 ball winner due to his lack of high-end positional play strength and size. Boston needs to play bigger at the catch point in terms of positioning himself among defenders and making sure the ball survives contact with the ground. With coverages getting tighter in the NFL, Boston needs to learn to box out and play bigger to be a good catch point player in the NFL.
Video 26: WR Denzel Boston (12) secures the ball outside his frame and continues upfield
Video 27: WR Denzel Boston (12) makes an impressive highpoint catch downfield
Video 28: WR Denzel Boston (12) secures the ball outside his frame, but he is unable to keep the ball in his frame to survive contact with the ground
Video 29: WR Denzel Boston (12) bobbles the contested target that results in an interception
While I have been fairly negative about him as a prospect, Boston has incredible football IQ for finding soft spots in zone coverage. By constantly settling in the open space in zone coverages, Boston does a great job of creating easy throws for his QB and acting as a safety valve for the offense. Though he lacks the separation and YAC/RAC ability to project as a WR1, Boston can be a solid WR2/3 who can rotate inside and outside as a zone beater who can occasionally stretch the field vertically and make contested catches.
Video 30: WR Denzel Boston (12) settles in the soft spot and continues upfield
Video 31: WR Denzel Boston (12) settles in the soft spot, but the QB was not able to hit the layered through above the LB
Video 32: WR Denzel Boston (12) settles in the soft spot and begins scramble drill
Draft Projection
Denzel Boston currently has a mid-to-late day two grade. While I am a lower than consensus, Boston’s zone IQ, ball skills, and deceleration are an interesting enough combination to be a solid safety blanket in the NFL. Though he lacks the athleticism to be an offense’s top target, Boston provides enough of a skill set to be a starting-caliber WR that rotates across the formation. If he can get stronger to get better at fighting off the LOS, securing passes outside his frame, and blocking bigger assignments in the run game, Boston has the potential to develop into a good WR2/3.
Athletic Testing
Will be updated after the NFL Combine/Washington Pro Day
Pro Comparison
Image 3: WR Michael Pittman Jr (11) making an acrobatic catch with the Indianapolis Colts
While he had better play strength as a prospect and player, Michael Pittman Jr reminds me a lot of Denzel Boston. A long WR with solid athleticism for a taller, bigger WR, Pittman Jr. has been a valuable contributing offensive piece for Indianapolis, who was often typecast into roles beyond his talent level. Simply put, Pittman’s size, zone IQ, and hands make him a starting-caliber WR, but he is not the caliber of player who can be the top target of a competent NFL passing offense around. If he can get stronger and bigger, Boston can develop into a similar style and caliber of player to Pittman (though he hopefully gets to be paired with a true WR1).
Date Published: 2/11/2025
Date Last Updated: 2/11/2025
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