Will Pauling

Senior wide receiver for Notre Dame. 2025: 26 catches, 381 receiving yards, 6 TD.

WR · Notre Dame · Sr. · #2

5′10″ · 190 lb · Chicago, IL

CFB Index 42 · #292 of 485 WRsHigh confidenceReturning to Notre Dame for 2026

How he plays

Beats you over the top.

TD rate: 97th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

381

receiving yards · 2025

26 catches · 6 TD · 14.7 per catch

Best game: 4 rec, 105 yds, 1 TD, vs NC State

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Notre Dame. 2025: 26 catches, 381 receiving yards, 6 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Cincinnati in 2021.
Transferred from Wisconsin to Notre Dame in 2025.

The full story, with sources

Will Pauling

WR · Notre Dame · Sr · #2

Beats you over the top. Will Pauling has played for two head coaches across five seasons and three programs. 2023 brought the first one: All-Big Ten. The receipt: 105 rec yds, 4 receptions against NC State — Week 7, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

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

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

42Rotational starter #292 of 485?

High confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

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 this season. 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).

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%

Splits & context

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

2026 season

Head Coach

Marcus Freeman

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

42 · #292 of 485 WRs

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

Career stats

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

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

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2025

W 34–24

vs USC

2 rec · 16 yds · 1 TD

With J. Price — 87 rush yds (13 car) · 1 TD · J. Love — 228 rush yds (24 car) · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 7 · NC State · 2&9 · Q1 · EPA +3.63CJ Carr pass complete to Will Pauling for 42 yds to the NCSU 26 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Boise State · 3&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.54CJ Carr pass complete to Will Pauling for 24 yds to the BOIS 32 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Boston College · 1&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 · 3&6 · Q2 · EPA +2.82(14:57) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short right to #2 W.Pauling caught at SYR00, for 6 yards to the SYR00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 14:56 #18 E.Schmidt kick attempt good (H: #10 T.Buchner, LS: #96 J.Vinci)
Week 5 · Arkansas · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.66CJ Carr pass complete to Will Pauling for 23 yds for a TD (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 6 · Boise State · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.60CJ Carr pass complete to Will Pauling for 19 yds for a TD (Erik Schmidt PAT BLOCKED)
Week 7 · NC State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.53CJ Carr pass complete to Will Pauling for 12 yds for a TD (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 8 · USC · 2&6 · Q3 · EPA +2.53CJ Carr pass complete to Will Pauling for 6 yds for a TD (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 14 · Stanford · 3&6 · Q1 · EPA +2.33(06:41) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short middle to #2 W.Pauling caught at STAN49, for 8 yards to the STAN49, End Of Play, 1ST DOWN
Week 11 · Navy · 3&8 · Q2 · EPA +2.20(01:55) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Carr pass complete short right to #2 W.Pauling caught at NAV24, for 27 yards to the NAV05 (#58 C.Cauley), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 3	L 40-41vs 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 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@ 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	13.0	6	44

How he plays

Play style

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

CFB Index positional classification

2026 Outlook

Notre Dame

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Wide receiver · Notre Dame

Returning around him

51% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
6 Notre Dame players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -9 net (7 in / 16 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Notre Dame · Last season: 10-2 (AP #9) · Talent rank #6 · 2026 recruiting class #5

DNA match

Player DNA

Deep Threat

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

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Ahmari Huggins-Bruce’s 2023 season.

Ahmari Huggins-Bruce

72%match

Louisville · 2023

Roderick Daniels

SMU · 2023

71%

Isaiah Johnson

Cincinnati · 2025

70%

Jha'Quan Jackson

Tulane · 2023

All-AACNFL Rd 6

69%

Robert Lewis

Georgia State · 2022

68%

Matches Ahmari on

Height

TD rate

Differs from Ahmari on

EPA / play (adj) (lower)

Weight (higher)

Recruiting rating (lower)

Through 4 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Taylor Grimes’s path through Incarnate Word.

Taylor Grimes

99%match

Incarnate Word · 2022

Anthony Lowe

Gardner-Webb · 2025

98%

Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman

Northwestern · 2020

97%

Keegan Jones

UCLA · 2024

96%

Kyrese Rowan

Utah State · 2024

96%

Matches Taylor on

Yards per reception

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Micah Davis's graduate season at Southern Miss (2025).

Micah Davis

64%match

Southern Miss · 2025

Brady Boyd

Utah State · 2025

All-Mountain West

53%

Luke Wysong

Arizona · 2025

All-Mountain West

47%

Bryce Bohanon

Tulane · 2025

46%

Treshaun Ward

Boston College · 2024

46%

Matches Micah on

Total EPA (college ability)

Weight

Yards / reception

Differs from Micah on

TD rate (higher)

Height (lower)

Player DNA

Players who play like Will Pauling

Trayvon Rudolph

Toledo · 2025

90%

Trebor Pena

Syracuse · 2022

89%

Cam Ross

James Madison · 2024

89%

Robert Lewis

Georgia State · 2023

88%

Jaden Smith

UTEP · 2024

86%

Heisman trajectory

Heisman Trajectory · 2025

Peak #177

Final rank

#177

Avg #190.0

Finalist prob 0%

Peaked at #177 this season.

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Will Pauling

2021

202313 games

202511 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Deep Threat

Players who play like Will Pauling

Heisman trajectory

Peak #177