Denzel Boston, Giles Jackson ready for big opportunities at receiver for UW

With the most productive trio of receivers in Washington history moving on, the time is now for Giles Jackson and Denzel Boston to show what they can do at that position.

Gone are Rome Odunze, expected to be a first-round pick in the NFL draft next week, and Ja’Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan, who are also expected to be drafted. Combined, they caught 206 passes for 3,358 yards and 27 touchdowns last season.

Also gone is receiver Germie Bernard (34 receptions, 419 yards, two touchdowns), who has transferred to Alabama.

Those departures have left Jackson, a sixth-year senior, and Boston, a redshirt sophomore as the two most productive returning receivers for the Huskies. They say they are ready for much bigger roles.

“I feel waiting behind those guys was the best thing for me to do and to stay patient and stay here,” Boston said after Tuesday’s spring practice. “This is the time that’s been coming. And I’ve decided to take what I can from the opportunity.”

Said Jackson: “They left, and it’s our time now.”

Boston, who starred at Emerald Ridge High School in Puyallup, caught five passes for 51 yards last season in 14 games. He played in four games in 2022, preserving a year of eligibility, and had two receptions.

Boston, 6 feet 4 and 217 pounds, has made several nice catches during spring practices and has impressed new UW receivers coach Kevin Cummings, who came from Arizona along with new UW coach Jedd Fisch.

“He’s the ultimate competitor,” said Cummings, who played receiver at Oregon State. “He loves to go out there. Every rep to him is the most important one. So there’s no plays off. Every time he’s out there, he’s playing for speed and I think that gives him a really good chance.”

Jackson, who played his first two seasons at Michigan, played in four regular-season games last year after an injury, preserving a sixth season of eligibility. He caught 14 passes for 106 yards and one touchdown after catching 28 passes for 328 yards and a touchdown in 2022.

Jackson, listed at 5 feet 9 and 178 pounds, said he has put on about 16 to 17 pounds since the end of last season. That extra strength is paying off.

“He’s got great speed and we all know that,” Cummings said of Jackson. “But the thing that actually has shown up the most with him is his ball skills. Very, very strong hands. He’s made a bunch of tough catches, especially in the slot.”

Another receiver in the mix is senior Jeremiah Hunter, a transfer from California, who had 62 receptions for 703 receiving yards and seven touchdowns last season for the Golden Bears.

Redshirt freshman Rashid Williams is also having a good spring and has been getting reps with the first unit, but Cummings said not to read too much into that.

“Everybody’s gotten a bunch of reps with the ones,” Cummings said. “Nobody has earned a starting spot so you don’t have to compete. Everybody’s competing for a spot right now. So every week we try to get different guys in different spots to see who are going to be the best starters for us and then always developing the rest of the guys.”

Jackson is also expected to see the field as a kick returner. He returned two kickoffs for touchdowns while at Michigan, and he said he is battling with Boston for the punt-returner role.

“He is an elite returner,” Cummings said, “He’s got the running-back background from his days in high school [in Antioch, Calif.], so he’s got great vision. And I think that’s why he’s elite, so for sure we’ll get him out there this year.”

But priority No. 1 is to continue the high standard set by the receivers who left. Cummings thinks his group can do that.

“There is a standard, and these guys understand what the standard is.,” Cummings said. “They know what it looks like. They’ve got a great work ethic because of what they’ve seen from these older guys. … These guys are excited for their opportunity.”