The Huskies had an unprecedented amount of talent at wide receiver during their national championship runner-up season in 2023-24
The Washington Huskies football team saw two players hear their names called in rounds two and three of the 2026 NFL Draft on Friday in Pittsburgh.
Wide receiver and the Huskies' leading receiver from this past season, Denzel Boston was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the second round with the 39th overall pick.
Two-time all-conference cornerback (second-team All-Pac 12 in 2023; second-team All-Big 12 in 2024) Tacario Davis was the next UW representative to hear his name called. Davis was picked in the third round, 72nd overall by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Due to the Bengals and Browns both playing in the AFC North, there's a non-zero chance Davis and Brown will go against each other in their respective rookie seasons.
However, Boston and another former Washington receiver's selection in the draft drew recognition for one of the best position groups on one of the most successful teams in the program's history.
Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard was picked in the second round 47th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bernard, like Boston, was a part of the 2023 Huskies team that advanced to the 2024 College Football Playoff national championship before ultimately falling 34-13 to the Michigan Wolverines.
Bernard caught 34 passes for 419 yards and two touchdowns that season and also ran the ball 13 times for 43 yards and another two scores.
Boston barely got any playing time that season and broke out the season after the runner-up run under new head coach Jedd Fisch.
Bernard followed the head coach of the '23 team, Kalen DeBoer, to the Alabama Crimson Tide when the DeBoer accepted the head coaching position there ahead of the '24-25 season. In his two years with the Crimson Tide, Bernard totaled 1,656 yards and nine touchdowns.
Including Boston and Bernard, five wide receivers from the '23-24 team were drafted in the first three rounds of respective drafts.
Current Chicago Bears pass catcher Rome Odunze was taken ninth overall in the '24 draft and Ja'Lynn Polk was selected in the second round of the '24 draft by the New England Patriots. Polk is currently on the New Orleans Saints.
Jalen McMillan was picked in the third round of the '24 draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
All three of the '24 draft picks are still active players in the NFL.
The quarterback throwing to those aforementioned wideouts, Michael Penix Jr., was picked eighth overall in the '24 draft by the Atlanta Falcons, which he currently plays for.
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