Will Pauling

#2 · WR · Sr. · Notre Dame5′10″ · 190 lb · Chicago, IL · Homewood-Flossmoor

Will Pauling is a wide receiver who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Notre Dame.

Pauling beats you over the top. Played for two head coaches across five seasons and three programs. The first one came in 2023: All-Big Ten. A game that shows it: 105 receiving yards and 4 receptions against NC State — Week 7, 2025.

Style of play

Play style

Stretches the field vertically. Every snap is a potential big play.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Trayvon RudolphToledo · 2025 · 90% season match
Trebor PenaSyracuse · 2022 · 89% season match
Ahmari Huggins-BruceLouisville · 2023 · 72% season match
Roderick DanielsSMU · 2023 · 71% season match
Isaiah JohnsonCincinnati · 2025 · 70% season match

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2025	Notre Dame	26	381	14.7	6	44
2024	Wisconsin	42	407	9.7	3	28
2023	Wisconsin	74	837	11.3	6	53
2022	Cincinnati	12	122	10.2	0	30
2021	Cincinnati	1	6	6.0	0	6
Career		155	1,753	11.3	15	53

Season	Team
2025	Notre Dame	--	--
2024	Wisconsin	1	4
2023	Wisconsin	1	11
2022	Cincinnati	1	−8
2021	Cincinnati	--	--
Career		3	7

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 3	L 40-41vs No. 16 Texas A&M	2	13	6.5	0	8
Wk 4	W 56-30vs Purdue	2	29	14.5	0	21
Wk 5	W 56-13@ Arkansas	3	53	17.7	1	23
Wk 6	W 28-7vs Boise State	2	43	21.5	1	24
Wk 7	W 36-7vs NC State	4	105	26.3	1	42	Season-high 105 yds
Wk 8	W 34-24vs No. 20 USC	2	16	8.0	1	10
Wk 10	W 25-10@ Boston College	4	73	18.3	1	44
Wk 11	W 49-10vs Navy	2	29	14.5	0	27
Wk 12	W 37-15@ No. 23 Pittsburgh	3	6	2.0	0	3
Wk 13	W 70-7vs Syracuse	1	6	6.0	1	6
Wk 14	W 49-20@ Stanford	1	8	8.0	0	8
Total		26	381	14.7	6	44

Signature game

Week 7 · 2025

W 36-7

vs NC State

4 rec · 105 yds · 1 TD

Dominant 29-point win at home against NC State.

With C. Carr — 342 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 67.0 · J. Rendell — 44 yards per punt · 3 punts · 1 inside the 20

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 7 · NC State · 2nd and 9 · Q1 · EPA +3.63CJ Carr pass complete to Will Pauling for 42 yds to the NCSU 26 for a
Week 6 · Boise State · 3rd and 10 · Q1 · EPA +3.54CJ Carr pass complete to Will Pauling for 24 yds to the BOIS 32 for a
Week 10 · Boston College · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +3.41CJ Carr pass to W. Pauling for 44 yds, for a TD (Two-Point Conversion failed) (L. Lombardo KICK)
Week 13 · Syracuse · 3rd and 6 · Q2 · EPA +2.82Carr to Pauling: a 6-yard touchdown pass.
Week 5 · Arkansas · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +2.66CJ Carr pass complete to Will Pauling for 23 yds for a TD (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 6 · Boise State · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +2.60CJ Carr pass complete to Will Pauling for 19 yds for a TD (Erik Schmidt PAT BLOCKED)

4 more plays

Week 7 · NC State · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +2.53CJ Carr pass complete to Will Pauling for 12 yds for a TD (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 8 · USC · 2nd and 6 · Q3 · EPA +2.53CJ Carr pass complete to Will Pauling for 6 yds for a TD (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 14 · Stanford · 3rd and 6 · Q1 · EPA +2.33Carr to Pauling: an 8-yard pass.
Week 11 · Navy · 3rd and 8 · Q2 · EPA +2.20Carr to Pauling: a 27-yard pass.

Receiving profile

Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth

How often he's targeted, and how well it works

26 rec · 381 yds · 6 TD

26 of 26 receptions matched to play-by-play

15 of 41 targets charted for true throw depth

Targets

4114% of team targets

Catch rate

63%26 of 41 targets

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

33% of targets (5)

100%catch rate

Air -1.8 · YAC 4.2 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

40% of targets (6)

67%catch rate

Air 5.5 · YAC 5.8 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

7% of targets (1)

100%catch rate

Air 17.0 · YAC 0.0 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

20% of targets (3)

0%catch rate

Air 26.7 avg

63% catch rate on 41 targets · 14% of the team's targets.

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

27%11 of his 41 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Teams and coaches

2021Cincinnati13-1HC: Luke Fickell · Run-leaning

2022Cincinnati9-4HC: Luke Fickell · Balanced

2023Wisconsin7-6HC: Luke Fickell · Balanced

2024Wisconsin5-7HC: Luke Fickell · Run-leaning

2025Notre Dame10-2HC: Marcus Freeman · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 42 (#292 of 485). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2025 season

42Rotational starter #292 of 485 · 2025?

10 metrics · season cumulative

2025 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: td rate (97th percentile). Strength: explosive rate (86th percentile). Concern: catch rate (20th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#21 / 798 · 97th pct

9.8%

Explosive rate#108 / 798 · 86th pct

17.1%

Yards / catch#204 / 798 · 74th pct

13.8

EPA / target#411 / 798 · 49th pct

0.41

Catch rate#641 / 798 · 20th pct

58.5%

Box-score rates (5)

Rec TDs#56 / 558 · 87th pct

Yards / catch#148 / 558 · 73rd pct

14.7

Rec yards#301 / 558 · 46th pct

381

Long catch#317 / 558 · 42nd pct

Receptions#335 / 558 · 39th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

42nd → 49th percentile

Explosive rate

18th → 86th percentile

Catch rate

91st → 20th percentile

TD rate

43rd → 97th percentile

Yards / catch

25th → 74th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2025. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	2.1	34.4	13.9	0.6
Road4g	2.8	35.0	11.5	0.5

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.6	48.6	17.3	0.6
Weeks 8+6g	2.2	23.0	9.5	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Marcus Freeman

Pass share

44.0%

321 pass / 409 run

Plays / game

60.8

12 games

Team sack rate

3.4%

349 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

26 catches in 11 games

Fewer catches a game than most FBS receivers who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

42 · #292 of 485 WRs · 2025

Three-star recruit. Now #292 at the position.

Starter

The No. 1,157 recruit in the country is starting at receiver in the FBS Independents as a senior.