Washington football star WR projected as first round pick in Pro Football Focus mock draft
Washington Huskies wide receiver Denzel Boston came into the season as one of the top players in the nation and as a projected first-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft, and has more than lived up to the billing.
He’s pulled in 30 catches for 444 yards and 6 touchdowns, all of which rank among the top ten for all pass catchers in the Big Ten, and hasn’t lost any steam in NFL draft circles. In his most recent mock draft, Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema projected that Boston would be selected as the No. 30 overall pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Boston has lived up to the billing as one of the best ‘big’ receivers in the class,” Sikkema wrote. “He’s earned an 82.9 receiving grade this year, hauling in five of his contested catch opportunities. However, he’s more than just his size and contested-catch ability. Washington has lined him up in the slot on 50 snaps already this season, thanks to his ability to win vertically from that alignment. At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, he is a ‘big’ receiver, but don’t simply put him in that box.”
Pro Football Focus has been high on Boston for a while, and in a draft with plenty of talent at the position, Sikkema projected Boston as the fifth receiver off the board behind Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson, USC’s Makai Lemon, Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, and Tennessee’s Chris Brazzell.
“I was wildly impressed with Denzel Boston,” Sikkema’s co-host Connor Rogers said on the NFL Stock Exchange podcast. “He’s big, he’s got long arms, he’s got good mass…I love this player. This is the benefit of actually sitting and watching and playing behind guys that are going to go be high-level NFL pros.”
“He tracks the deep ball, he plucks it at the highest point, he has strong hands, he shields defenders on underneath routes with a wide back and shoulders, he’s a mismatch in the red zone, but he knows how to use his mismatch size with long arms, a wide frame, and spacing. In the run game, he gets after it. They trust him on the perimeter, they can run his direction, and he can move the defensive back off the line of scrimmage or to the sideline, or he can crack down on a linebacker…This guy’s a bully on the field.”
Placing Boston on the Steelers would be an intriguing fit, as he would form a field-stretching combination of big receivers with DK Metcalf, while he’d also be reunited with two of his former teammates, offensive tackle Troy Fautanu and linebacker Carson Bruener.
