BUFFALO, NY — The Buffalo Bills’ Super Bowl window isn’t closing, but it’s getting awfully drafty. After a 2025 season where Josh Allen often looked like a magician trying to pull a rabbit out of an empty hat, general manager Brandon Beane enters the 2026 offseason with one directive: get the man a weapon. Buffalo finished the 2025 campaign ranked in the bottom six for completions on throws over 20 yards, a staggering stat for an offense led by the strongest arm in the league.
While the rumor mill is churning with a potential $13 million move for veteran Mike Evans, the long-term solution is likely sitting in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Enter Washington’s Denzel Boston, a 6’4″, 210-pound tower who spent the last two seasons turning 50-50 balls into 80-20 certainties in the Big Ten.
The Size Buffalo Cannot Ignore
Boston isn’t just big; he’s an aerial specialist. In 2025, he hauled in 62 receptions for 881 yards and 11 touchdowns. But the number that should make Beane salivate is his contested-catch rate. Boston finished 2025 tied for third in the nation with a 76.9% contested-catch success rate. For a Bills team that struggled to find a reliable “X” receiver after the Stefon Diggs era transitioned into a committee approach, Boston represents the physical alpha Buffalo has lacked.
He isn’t a burner—scouts expect a 40-yard dash in the 4.50-4.55 range—but his “game speed” tells a different story. He eats up cushion with long strides and uses his massive wingspan to shield defenders like a power forward boxing out for a rebound. In Joe Brady’s vertical-heavy system, a player who can win at the catch point regardless of coverage is the ultimate safety blanket for Allen’s “hero ball” moments.
“I don’t care if there’s a guy on my hip or two guys in the area. If the ball is in the air, it belongs to me. That’s the mindset you have to have when you’re the big man on the outside.”
— Denzel Boston, Washington WR (Post-LA Bowl Interview, Dec 2025)
Draft Projection: Why Pick 26 is the Sweet Spot
Critics point to Boston’s lack of elite YAC (yards after catch) ability—he averaged a modest 4.9 yards after the catch in 2025—and his struggles against physical press-man coverage. However, the Bills don’t need a gadget player or a screen specialist; they have Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid for the intermediate “mesh” concepts. They need a vertical threat who forces safeties to stay deep, opening up the run game for Ray Davis.
Currently projected as a Late Round 1 / Early Round 2 talent, Boston is frequently linked to Buffalo at the No. 26 spot. If Beane passes on defensive help to secure this Michael Pittman Jr.-style playmaker, it sends a clear message: the Bills are done asking Josh Allen to do it all alone. With 20 career touchdowns and a nose for the end zone, Boston is the red-zone threat that could finally turn those Buffalo “almosts” into Super Bowl rings.
