Washington has a chance to sneak a Husky or two into the first round of the NFL Draft, but it will take the right scenarios. Like Tacario Davis making a big jump because of his length and other intangibles. The Huskies should have one player drafted in the first round with Denzel Boston, but not so fast, says ESPN's latest mock draft. Matt Miller has him slipping into the second, and his justification is based on team need.
Miller's latest NFL Mock Draft has Denzel going to the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 36, which would put four picks into the second round of the draft. Miller justifies it with, "Boston slips through the cracks in this mock draft due to team needs, but he would be a true WR1 in Las Vegas and a perfect pairing with Mendoza."
ESPN's new NFL Mock Draft has Denzel Boston slipping into the 2nd round of the NFL Draft
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Miller does have Boston as the fifth wide receiver taken in the draft. Which may or may not be the right evaluation. It's close. He won't be taken higher than Makai Lemon or Carnell Tate, but after that, it's really about fit and NFL evaluations. There are plenty of other mock drafts that have Boston ahead of Jordyn Tyson and Omar Cooper Jr.
So, there's a bit of a silly rationale to say that Boston fell in the draft because of team need. For it's not like he was the third receiver off the board and it happened to be the second round. Miller clearly has Cooper and Tyson ranked higher than Boston on his NFL Big Board.
So Miller needs to own that both teams need, as in only five receivers are taken by No. 36 in the NFL Draft, but also that he has Boston as the fifth-best receiver. That's a big distinction.
It will ultimately land on how NFL teams have their own big boards to determine where Boston lands. However, if it's No. 36 to the Las Vegas Raiders, that's not a bad spot as he can help the team immediately and become the No. 1 receiver for Fernando Mendoza, as Miller says above.