Denzel Boston leads team in receiving again in win

What to do with this info? Stash Boston at the very least. Per Palmer, the Browns “felt he was a true pro from the day he walked into the building.” In the same pre-Thursday Night Football news dump, Palmer said that Harold Fannin is the team’s No. 3 pass catcher, despite Fannin leading the team in targets. This could indicate that the Browns plan to ramp up Boston’s offensive involvement as the season progresses.

This comes from Palmer’s pre-Thursday Night Football notes. After sharing the info, he tells readers to “read into that how you want.” Fannin currently leads the team in targets (18), though rookie WRs KC Concepcion (17) and Denzel Boston (15) are right behind him. If Palmer’s report is accurate, Fannin could slip to third in target share as the season progresses, but he remains a very talented player and target earner, deserving of a weekly TE1 ranking. Just file this away for now.

Boston’s 41 yards were his fewest in three games as a pro, though he has now contributed at least one 20-yard catch all three times out. On the rare occasions Deshaun Watson actually throws down-field, he’s looking only for Boston. That will lead to some spiked weeks, but Boston’s floor is too low to rank him inside the top 36 on a regular basis, including Thursday’s short-week home date with the Steelers.

It’s the rookie’s second touchdown grab in as many weeks. After catching an intermediate pass from Deshaun Watson, Boston spun out of a tackle and raced to the end zone for a 55-yard score — by far the biggest play of the game. Boston is cementing himself as the clear WR1 in the Cleveland offense, well ahead of KC Concepcion — who had another inefficient day on Sunday — and Jerry Jeudy, who did not catch his lone target against Tampa. Boston will have plenty of deep league fantasy appeal in Week 3 against the Panthers.

Boston saw a few deep targets from Deshaun Watson against the Jaguars, ultimately capitalizing with a 46-yard score in the fourth quarter. It came with the game out of reach but we got a taste of how Todd Monken would like to utilize the 22-year-old rookie. He started on the outside for Cleveland and led all wide receivers in snaps, though that may have been inflated with much of the offensive volume coming with the Browns down four scores in the second half. Boston looks to be a boom-or-bust WR5 play for Week 2 against the Buccaneers.

Monken has stressed explosive plays as an important part of the Cleveland offense headed into the 2026 regular season. “Obviously having explosive players helps that,” Monken said. “Being able to scheme it up against certain looks and then being able to execute because your protection has to hold up when you get those opportunities. I’m confident in Deshaun and our ability to push the ball down the field, otherwise we wouldn’t be starting him.” That confidence might be misplaced considering Watson completed just 1-of-6 attempts for 20 yards and an interception on downfield passes in the preseason and was among the league’s worst deep ball passers in 2024, when he threw downfield on a career-low 27 percent of his attempts. Once an elite deep ball thrower, Watson will look to regain form coming off two torn Achilles, entering his age-30 season. Perhaps rookie WR Denzel Boston will be a boon for Watson’s downfield game in 2026.

Boston, who ESPN’s Benjamin Solak compared to Sam LaPorta after viewing Browns training camp, looks to have a locked in role with the Browns early. We wouldn’t necessarily say that Boston is a lock to be fantasy-useful, but Todd Monken has been well-regarded as an offensive mind and Jerry Jeudy didn’t exactly light it up last year. It’s certainly in the range of outcomes that Boston puts up a WR3/WR4 type of year as a rookie.

It’s been an impressive few weeks of camp for Boston, who has flashed on several occasions since things got underway. The rookie second-rounder has made enough of an impression to begin working with the first-team offense ahead of the team’s first preseason game, which suggests he is well on his way to solidifying an early role in the offense. While the Browns’ quarterback situation leaves much to be desired, Boston could end up having a solid fantasy floor in his rookie season under Monken. Both he and fellow rookie KC Concepcion are intriguing later-round picks in redraft leagues this season.

Per Jackson, organized team activities and mandatory minicamp “offered clues” about Monken’s use of motion and how he plans to “hunt mismatches in the quick passing game and use misdirection to create space and passing lanes for the quarterback.” That said, Jackson also believes that either TE Harold Fannin or fellow rookie WR Denzel Boston will be the “leading receiver.” It remains to be seen whether Monken will actually dial up a high target volume for an X-receiver like Boston. He featured WR Zay Flowers, who Concepcion has been likened to, as the top target-earning wide receiver with the Ravens. If Concepcion only gets a few designed looks per game, it will be tough for him to produce reliably in fantasy. If he can be more than that, even while earning targets behind Fannin while Boston stretches the field, Concepcion can return FLEX value in his first season.

Cleveland’s Mary Kay Cabot reports that Jeudy “felt something in his hamstring today,” so he sat out. Coach Todd Monken made clear that he does not give veterans rest days right now, so if a player sits, it’s because they are being cautious with an injury. Today was the Browns’ final mandatory minicamp practice. They will now go on break until training camp begins in July. Early in May, Cabot reported that the team is hoping Jeudy reclaims his WR1 role this season. Browns rookie WRs KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston have been taking full rotations with both the No. 1 and No. 2 offensive groups. Yesterday, ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi reported Boston “has been one of the Browns’ standouts this summer.” Get well soon, Jeudy. The youngsters look promising.