The tables have turned in Northeast Ohio, and what could have been a hostile environment at Huntington Bank Field will most likely be a celebration when the Cleveland Browns host the Carolina Panthers Sunday in the home opener.
While the jury is still out on Deshaun Watson and some fans might still not want anything to do with him, rookie wide receiver Denzel Boston has been a home run.
He's the first player since 1976 and just the fourth in NFL history with a 45-plus-yard receiving touchdown in each of his first two career games.
Notably, Week 3 will give Boston and head coach Todd Monken a golden opportunity to learn how to further maximize his skill set. The Browns will host second-year star Tetairoa McMillan, who is pretty much a carbon copy of Boston in terms of size and play style.
How the Panthers use Tetairoa McMillan could unlock even more from Denzel Boston
While McMillan was taken much higher in the NFL Draft and didn't come with the same speed concerns scouts called out with Boston, the similarities are there. They're both around 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, and they've both been clocked at around 4.50 in official and unofficial 40-yard dashes.
McMillan, like Boston, made an immediate impact last season, using his sturdy frame to manhandle defenders and his long strides to create separation and get off to the races. Panthers head coach Dave Canales is great at scheming him open, and maybe Monken can take a page out of his book.
McMillan's 14.8 average depth of target as a rookie was eerily similar to Boston's (15.8), though the Panthers were much more aggressive at trying to find him. McMillan averaged 7.2 targets per game.
Carolina has also used him much more often in the slot, which the Browns may not want to do with Boston as a tandem with first-round rookie KC Concepcion.
Monken has seemingly used Boston similarly to how he got Mike Evans involved when he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and while the resemblance between Evans and Boston is also striking, McMillan might actually be the perfect comparison.
Boston's critics claimed he wasn't fast enough to create separation, yet he's logged an average separation score of 0.167, the eighth-best in the league (and right behind Concepcion). That's not too far behind the 0.184 McMillan posted during his Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign in 2025.
Great minds think alike, and Canales will also likely pick up a couple of pointers from watching Boston's tape.
Through two games, Boston has made a lot of teams look foolish for turning their backs on him during the draft — the same teams that were probably salivating over McMillan just months earlier.
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