LOS ANGELES — Denzel Boston wanted to play quarterback.
His favorite player was Michael Vick, and he wore a Vick No. 7 jersey growing up in Puyallup, Washington, a half-hour drive south of Seattle.
But as he took snaps from center in youth football under the watchful gaze of father Chris, Boston told me he wanted to wear receiver gloves like his older brother Andrew, who developed into a talented and productive receiver at Eastern Washington.
Boston’s father wasn’t having it.
“I wanted to wear gloves, but my dad was like, ‘You’re not wearing gloves at quarterback,’” Boston told me recently at the NFLPA Rookie Premiere. “So, I switched to receiver.”
The move proved a wise choice for Boston, who developed into an explosive receiver for the University of Washington and was selected in the second round of this year’s draft by the Cleveland Browns.
And over the last month, Boston has produced his fair share of highlight-reel plays during organized team activities for the Browns, creating a buzz for what the rookie can do once the season rolls around in September.
At 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Boston’s size and physicality stand out at the next level. Boston routinely defeated smaller corners by bullying them at the catch point and snatching the ball away on contested catch opportunities in college. He finished with 125 catches for 1,715 yards and 20 touchdowns during his final two seasons for the Huskies.
For Boston, the goal is to continue that dominant trend as a big-bodied, big-play receiver in the pros.
“It comes when the DB is playing you tight, and you’ve got to swipe by with some type of hand-to-hand combat,” Boston told me when asked about his physicality. “Or, you’ve got to shut him off to get that over-the-shoulder ball. I also think understanding your skill set is a big thing as well. I’m not a 5-11 receiver. I’m not going to move like one, either. So, it’s understanding that I have my dominant traits, and I need to use those dominant traits to empower myself on the field.”
Ricky Proehl, a former NFL receiver and current head coach of the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks, worked with Boston in the lead-up to the draft. Proehl said Boston is a highly talented and motivated pass catcher who should blossom into a productive receiver at the next level.
“He’s gifted. Great hands. Good route runner and explosive coming off the ball,” Proehl told me. “He’s a big receiver with a big catching radius. The thing that impressed me the most is for a taller guy, he can drop his weight and change direction like a smaller guy.
“You feel his explosiveness coming off the ball, but he can drop his weight and change direction. He’s special, and he can make an immediate impact.”
Proehl compared Boston to another physical freak coming out of college in former Pittsburgh Steeler Martavis Bryant. However, Proehl offered one weakness that Boston needs to work on — he cares too much.
“I think the biggest thing he’s got to work on is he’s a perfectionist — which isn’t a bad thing as a receiver,” Proehl told me. “I had those issues, because you want to run the perfect route every time, take a good angle coming out and you don’t want to slip on the route. But sometimes that’s going to happen, and you’ve got to let it go.
“And sometimes he’s like, ‘Let me run it again.’ And I’m like, ‘Nah, you can’t run it again in a game. This is what you’re doing, and this is what you need to do. But forget it. It’s not that bad.’ But I think he’s going to have a successful career. He’s a great kid. He works his tail off. And he’s going to make big plays.”
Boston said he looked to his older brother Andrew Boston for mentorship. Four years older than Denzel, the older Boston totaled 2,621 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns during his college career for the Eagles.
“The main thing with him is he was always making sure I was working hard, keeping my head down,” Boston told me about working with his older brother. “Whenever he would come home, he always had me at the field doing some kind of extra work, doing some type of catching drills. Just something that he felt like he missed out on when he was my age, that he just wanted to give back to me.”
Denzel Boston’s 881 receiving yards were the sixth-most in the Big Ten last season, while his 11 receiving touchdowns were tied for the fourth-most. (Photo by Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Boston continued to get that mentorship in college, waiting his turn behind older receivers like Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja’Lynn Polk. Like Boston, all three of those receivers are playing in the NFL.
“Having Rome there, who’s kind of built like me and moves in a similar way, really helped with my confidence – being able to take from him when it comes to matchups,” Boston said. “And just having J-Mac (McMillan) also bringing me on the field and getting my feet right. He’s the one that brought me in and got my “Sweet Feet” on, is what I call it. And then with Ja’Lynn Polk, it was always just a mentality thing with him. The way he showed up every day, getting up early at the facility and always just challenging me every day, not only physically but mentally in the classroom.”
Boston joins fellow rookie receiver and first-round pick K.C. Concepcion on a Browns offense that includes receivers Jerry Jeudy and Isaiah Bond, along with running backs Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson and tight end Harold Fanin Jr. Cleveland also improved things up front with first-round draft pick Spencer Fano, along with free agent additions Zion Johnson and Elgton Jenkins.
Of course, the Browns still must figure out who the starter will be at quarterback between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders. And if neither of those two emerges, the Browns secured an extra first-round pick in next year’s draft by trading star edge rusher Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams, giving them two first-round picks to chase a signal-caller of the future in next year’s talent-rich quarterback draft class.
Who will Denzel Boston be catching passes from in 2026? Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson are competing for the starting QB job, with the latter getting the first-team reps this offseason. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
“Shedeur is a cool guy who brings high energy,” Boston said about Sanders. “Whenever I see videos or clips of him, he always has high energy. He seems like he wants to be better each day, the way he works out when we’re in the facility and stuff like that. And he’s not afraid to help other people. Like, I remember we had a drill and he was like, ‘Hey, next time just take this up over here and I’m just going to launch that.’ And I was like, ‘All right, cool.’ He’s just showing up every day trying to get better. And he has a great attitude.
“And there’s no doubts there at all about what Deshaun can do. Basically, he’s had some great years in Houston. He’s come into a rough patch right now, but there’s always light at the end of those tunnels. God always gives his toughest soldiers the strongest fights. I think whatever quarterback they decide to go with — and that goes for all four of them — are going to do well.”
