Inside The Huskies

Here's the Latest Mock Draft Projection for Denzel Boston

Seattle football fans might cringe at this outcome -- with the team, not the pick.
Dan Raley|
Denzel Boston completes a 78-yard touchdown pass in the LA Bowl.
Denzel Boston completes a 78-yard touchdown pass in the LA Bowl. | Dave Sizer photo

It hasn't quite been two weeks since Denzel Boston announced he would forgo a final season of University of Washington football eligibility and turn to the NFL Draft. Nothing has happened since to indicate that wasn't the best move for him.

In the first well-circulated mock draft since he made his plans clear on Christmas Eve, the gifted 6-foot-4, 210-pound wide receiver turns up No. 23 overall in the picking process as determined by ESPN.

With the playoffs about to begin, and the draft pecking order only firm through the first 18 picks, ESPN had to project a possible team -- and came up with the San Francisco 49ers, which might be the last place where Seattle football fans would want to see Boston land.

The reasoning behind this, in going to a team the hometown Seahawks just beat 13-3 this past Saturday and is considered a bitter rival, was spelled out in this manner by ESPN:

"If there's a receiver in this draft who would excel in Kyle Shanahan's scheme, it's Boston, whose 11 receiving touchdowns were the fourth most among all wide receivers in the FBS. He's a strong-handed perimeter target who wins a high percentage of contested catches and is also a willing blocker in the run game. With Jauan Jennings scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent, Boston would fill the void as a bigger-body receiver who's unafraid to do the dirty work as a run blocker."

Denzel Boston takes a sideline hit in the LA Bowl.
Denzel Boston takes a sideline hit in the LA Bowl. | Dave Sizer photo

With San Francisco supposedly beckoning, Boston hasn't appeared in a football game in the Bay Area since 2023, when he was a redshirt freshman and the Huskies defeated Stanford 42-33 that afternoon.

Teammates Rome Odunze, Devin Culp and Ja'Lynn Polk caught touchdown passes against the Cardinal, in fact Polk hauled in a pair, and they're now all in the NFL. Boston played, but didn't catch any passes in that one.

For Stanford, a back-up quarterback named Justin Lamson scored on a 2-yard run with 4:51 remaining to pull the Cardinal within 35-33.

On Monday night, the same Lamson led Montana State to an FCS national championship by engineering a stirring 35-34 overtime victory for the Bobcats, fueled by his fourth-down touchdown pass to a guy named Taco Dowler.

Denzel Boston heads for the end zone at the LA Bowl, completing a 78-yard TD pass.
Denzel Boston heads for the end zone at the LA Bowl, completing a 78-yard TD pass. | Dave Sizer photo

While the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Lamson ultimately showed the Bay Area isn't a great fit for everyone and transferred, Boston is the kind of guy who seemingly can go anywhere and thrive.

At least that's what the ESPN analysts, in pairing Boston with the No. 23 pick overall and the 49ers, have decided.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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