The Cleveland Browns drafted more than just a guy who can catch passes with their 39th overall pick. They selected a player and a person who will change the culture of their team for, hopefully, many years to come.
On draft night, Boston told his new general manager that he was going to bring his version of bully ball to Cleveland, and on Saturday, he doubled down on it. When asked about his physicality, he talked about how he really prides himself on being physical and that his bully ball will become real when the pads come on.
To say that Boston looks the part as an NFL player would be a massive understatement. He stands at 6’3″ and weighs in at 212 pounds. Although he is already a big-bodied receiver, he plays even bigger than that. He is physical in every single part of his game. He attacks the football physically, he blocks physically, he runs through defenders physically, and he wants to make sure that he ruins a defender’s entire day.
What Boston brings to the table with his play style is enough to win over a fanbase and excite an entire organization. It’s a sustainable brand of football that can be dominant year after year. However, his attitude is a complete and total culture changer, something that Cleveland needs again.
The last time the Browns were a force in the NFL was when their vocal leader was in the wide receiver room. Jarvis Landry brought a tangible toughness to his era of Browns teams, and it carried through to all his teammates. He held his teammates to a standard, and the result was a playoff win.
This is not to say that Boston needs to be that on day one, but the opportunity is there. The core of this era of the Cleveland team is very young. The key playmakers on this team on both sides of the ball are in either year one or year two.
This group will grow together over the course of the next four or five seasons as Cleveland tries to turn this franchise around. The 2026 draft, paired with the guys that the Browns drafted in 2025, could make the Browns a legitimate force to be reckoned with.
It will not happen overnight. There will be plenty of growing pains for this team over the next 12 months, but they will attack them with the right mindset to keep getting better. However, if the young future stars of this team come in and show that they can compete, it will be an invigorating jolt to the veterans like Denzel Ward and Myles Garrett.
There is still a lot of time until Boston is a vocal leader in the Browns locker room, but for now, he can let his play to the talking, and that play is a whole lot of bully ball.
This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Browns’ rookie wide receiver doubles down on culture changing trait
Reporting by Anthony Moeglin, Browns Wire / Browns Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
