The 2026 NFL Draft began on Thursday night in Pittsburgh, and it was expected going into the annual event that multiple former players from the Washington Huskies football team would hear their names called.

The former Husky many analysts expected to be selected among the former Dawgs was wide receiver Denzel Boston. And that expectation came to fruition.

Boston was selected No. 39 overall by the Cleveland Browns. This means he's likely to be catching passes from quarterback Shedeur Sanders or Deshaun Watson.

Boston, listed at 6-foot-4 and 209 pounds, spent all four seasons of his career with his native university. Boston is a native of South Hill, Wash., just under an hour away from Husky Stadium.

Boston didn't receive a lot of playing time from 2022-23 due to the depth the Huskies had in the receiving room. Under Kalen DeBoer, who's now the head coach at Alabama, he sat behind receivers such as Rome Odunze and Ja'Lynn Polk, who were taken in the first two rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft. Odunze was selected by the Chicago Bears while Polk was taken by the New England Patriots.

Boston opted to stay with the Huskies after DeBoer left for Alabama and Jedd Fisch was hired. Under Fisch, Boston flourished as UW's No. 1 receiver and was able to do it with two different quarterbacks.

In 2024, Boston reeled in 63 catches for 834 yards and nine touchdowns with quarterback Will Rogers under center.

Last year, the South Hill native caught 62 passes for a team-leading 881 yards and 11 touchdowns. Signal caller Demond Williams Jr. was throwing him passes.

Boston started to rise up draft boards during last season — and this offseason — due to his size and incredible catch radius. He had an 89.7 grade against man coverage, per Pro Football Focus, which was the highest mark in the country.

Boston had 26 catches against man coverage this past season and 23 of them were first-down receptions. Eight of his 11 TDs were against man coverage.

Boston is also an asset in the running game despite being a receiver. He ranked third among 276 qualified Power Four receivers last season in run-blocking grade, per Pro Football Focus.

The Huskies will have a very difficult time replacing his productivity in 2026, but if history is any indication, they will be able to find someone to step up, just as they did with Boston when Odunze and Polk left Montlake.

The second and third rounds of the NFL Draft will continue to take place on Friday night with the draft concluding on Saturday with rounds 4-7.

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