Two of Washington’s most recent standouts made their presence felt in the NFL on Sunday, with both Jonah Coleman and Denzel Boston getting into the end zone for their teams.
Coleman, the Huskies’ leading rusher, was a fourth-round pick of the Denver Broncos in the 2026 NFL Draft. Boston, Washington’s top receiver in 2025, went in the second round to the Cleveland Browns. Each delivered a scoring play and each helped push his team to a win.
Coleman saw a bigger workload because of injuries to J.K. Dobbins and R.J.
Harvey, and he made it count. He carried 10 times for 39 yards and a touchdown in Denver’s 20-13 victory.
His scoring run came from three yards out on first and goal in the fourth quarter, and the extra point made it the eventual final margin.
Boston was just as productive for Cleveland. He caught five passes for 95 yards and a touchdown as the Browns edged the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-19.
His touchdown was a 55-yard catch-and-run in the third quarter that pulled Cleveland even at 16-16. It was the second straight week Boston had found the end zone.
The two players also took very different paths to get to Montlake.
Coleman started at Arizona, where he originally committed under then-head coach Jedd Fisch. When Fisch left for Washington, Coleman followed him and running backs coach Scottie Graham through the transfer portal. Over two seasons with the Huskies, Coleman piled up 1,811 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns on 349 carries in 25 games, leading UW in rushing both years.
Boston’s route was more complicated. He originally committed to Washington under Kalen DeBoer, now the head coach at Alabama. Under DeBoer, Boston saw limited action and was behind several receivers who also reached the NFL, including now-retired Ja'Lynn Polk and Chicago Bears wideout Rome Odunze.
Boston did not follow DeBoer to Alabama through the transfer portal. Instead, he stayed in the Pacific Northwest under Fisch and turned into the Huskies’ top option.
In two seasons under Fisch, Boston recorded 125 catches for 1,715 yards and 20 touchdowns in 25 games. He finished second on the team in receiving yards in 2024, led the Huskies in that category in 2025 and topped the team in receiving touchdowns in both seasons.
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Washington Opens Big Ten Play With More On The Line Than Usual
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Jedd Fisch has made clear he respects what P.J. Fleck has built in Minneapolis, pointing to the Gophers as a well-coached group that consistently does the little things right. For Washington, that means the opener is about more than settling into a new conference routine, with an old series edge and a fresh Big Ten chapter both quietly hanging over the night. [Read more 🡒]