Will Pauling emerges for Wisconsin football after being overlooked as a transfer

MADISON, Wis. — Rewind your mind to January after the dust settled on Wisconsin’s offseason transfer portal haul. As the Badgers arrived on campus for winter workouts under a new regime, they did so with 13 new scholarship transfers, many of whom had generated considerable buzz upon their commitment announcements.

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Where did wide receiver Will Pauling rank for you on that list at the time? In a group that featured three former four-star quarterbacks, a former top-10 wide receiver recruit (C.J. Williams), a proven wide receiver playmaker (Bryson Green), two offensive linemen with starting experience (Jake Renfro and Joe Huber), a first-team all-conference defensive lineman (Darian Varner), a 30-game starter at cornerback (Jason Maitre) and an All-America-caliber kicker (Nathanial Vakos), Pauling likely sat near the bottom.

Yet as Wisconsin reaches the home stretch of its first season under Luke Fickell, Pauling has emerged as one of the most valuable transfer additions and one of the most valuable pieces to the team. Pauling, the Cincinnati transfer, leads the Badgers in receptions (41), receiving yards (449) and touchdown catches (two). No other Wisconsin player is within 16 receptions or 167 yards of Pauling’s team-best marks.

“I would not have doubted it,” said Wisconsin receiver Quincy Burroughs, who transferred from Cincinnati with Pauling. “I’ve seen his potential from Cincinnati. It was a matter of time. He had all the tools. It took time for everything to just be in the right place and put them all together. Once I saw him click in this offense, I knew the sky was the limit.”

Pauling was perhaps an afterthought outside the program, in part, because he wasn’t a highly-rated high school recruit and didn’t put up big numbers during his brief stint at Cincinnati. He ranked as the No. 163 wide receiver in the 2021 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite, after earning second-team all-area honors from the “Chicago Tribune” at Homewood-Flossmoor in Illinois. Nearly all of his scholarship offers came from schools at the Mid-American Conference level or lower.

He appeared in four games during a redshirt year at Cincinnati as a freshman. Pauling sustained a grade 3 MCL tear in his right knee during Cincinnati’s second game last season against Kennesaw State. He missed four games and played in nine games total, catching 12 passes for 122 yards. Six of those catches went for 60 yards in two games before the injury.

When Fickell and wide receivers coach Mike Brown left Cincinnati, Pauling followed them to Wisconsin. Pauling said he talked to a few MAC schools, as well as Big Ten programs Indiana and Illinois after he entered the portal, but his decision was easy because of his familiarity with the coaches. At the time, it was difficult to know exactly how Pauling would fit into a deep wide receiver group.

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The Badgers were set to have 12 scholarship receivers with the intention of playing as many as six.

“I definitely feel like coming in here I would have to prove myself,” Pauling said. “I’ve had to prove myself wherever I was at, whether it’s in sophomore year of high school trying to get onto varsity or your first year as a freshman in college. I was going to prove that guys could trust me and that I could earn things.”

The best thing that could have happened to Pauling was teaming up at Wisconsin with offensive coordinator Phil Longo, whose penchant for utilizing slot receivers perfectly aligned with Pauling’s skill set. Longo joked before the season that he loved slot receivers more than anyone other than his wife and kids because they are typically among the most productive players in his offense. When Longo was at North Carolina, his system helped slot receiver Josh Downs finish with the fourth-highest receiving yards total in program history (2,483), achieving the bulk of those numbers in just two seasons before Downs became a third-round NFL Draft pick.

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“Obviously with coach Longo, if you look at his track record and his history with receivers and more specifically with receivers in the slot, he’s done a lot of good things with slot receivers,” Pauling said. “I wasn’t expecting to just be the go-to guy or anything like that. But I’m not surprised by anything that’s happened, honestly. I know how hard I work, I know how blessed I am. So everything that’s been happening to me I feel like is kind of just God’s plan for me, honestly.”

Running back Braelon Allen said Pauling’s explosiveness was one of the first things players noticed about him. During February workouts, Pauling clocked a top-end speed of 21.35 mph, which was the fastest on the team, according to numbers strength and conditioning coach Brady Collins compiled. Pauling, who is 5-feet-10 and 187 pounds, overtook Skyler Bell for the starting slot receiver role during spring practices as Bell transitioned from playing on the outside the previous season.

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Pauling hasn’t looked back. He ranks fourth in the Big Ten in receptions per game (5.1) and seventh in receiving yards per game (56.1). According to Pro Football Focus, Pauling has been targeted a team-high 60 times this season. Green is second with 44 targets, Bell third with 38 and Chimere Dike fourth with 31.

“I think the offense is just perfect for him,” Burroughs said. “The world is seeing what we’ve been seeing from spring practice. Everyone is seeing all the hard work, all the little things he does.”

Wisconsin quarterback Braedyn Locke said Pauling’s separation ability, particularly against man coverage, had been especially valuable in the offense. According to PFF, Pauling has 11 catches for 122 yards with a touchdown against man coverage, his highest output against a specific defensive look. Locke called Pauling a meticulous route runner and said his ability to change directions gave defenses matchup problems.

“He’s always in the right spot,” Locke said. “Kind of a guy that you can just count on, no matter the situation.”

Those attributes have contributed to Pauling becoming a go-to threat for Wisconsin on third down. Pauling has 15 catches for 177 yards with a touchdown on third down. Twelve of those 15 receptions have gone for a first down.

“He has definitely upped his game the last few weeks,” Longo said. “I love the direction that he’s going. And third down is a big down. And in some of those plays, he hasn’t even been the primary target. The primary target’s been covered, and he has a great knack for getting open. He’s talented. He’s hard to stay with. He’s a great change-of-direction guy.

“So he has demonstrated that on big downs like that, he can create some separation and he’s become a really consistent and trustworthy target for the quarterbacks. That’s why his production is what it is right now.”

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Fickell said it was easy to forget how young Pauling was as a player considering how often he has been targeted this season. Pauling, a third-year sophomore, didn’t record his first career touchdown catch until two Saturdays ago with Wisconsin trailing Illinois 21-10 midway through the fourth quarter. He ran behind Illini defensive back Xavier Scott and showed great athleticism by leaping in front of defensive back Tyler Strain in the end zone to secure a 20-yard touchdown catch from Locke. That play gave Wisconsin critical momentum in a 25-21 comeback victory.

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Pauling notched his second touchdown catch Saturday on a 13-yard reception from Locke against Ohio State that tied the score at 10 in the third quarter and represented the team’s only touchdown in the game. He has contributed on punt return (four snaps) and punt coverage (17 snaps) this season. Pauling is on pace, if Wisconsin at least qualifies for a bowl game, to finish in the top five for single-season receptions in program history. His teammates and coaches believe he has only begun his ascent.

“One of the things that I’ve noticed as much as anything is a little bit better stamina and endurance,” Fickell said. “He doesn’t play every snap. We don’t want him to play every snap. Him and Skyler roll a lot. But the snaps that he is in there, he’s on special teams, you see him down the stretch being able to maintain that level a lot greater. So he’s still a young guy. I think the sky is the limit.”

(Top photo: Michael Hickey / Getty Images)

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