'21 IL WR Will Pauling (Wiscy Transfer - Notre Dame Verbal)

Te'o4Heisman

Te'o4Heisman

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Dale said:
Proven what exactly?
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Oh i dont know, a guy that had 40 something catches last year and the year before that had 60 something for 700 yds. That 700 ydd by itself is more than Faison has had in his career spanning a full season and a half including the full season being 16 games. Last year in his down year his two best games were against Penn St and Alabama going for 17 catches and 162 yds in those games. Pauling is substantially proven relative to what Faison has actually done on the field. This isnt your opinion, this facts.
 
Crazy Balki

Crazy Balki

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Irish du Nord said:
True, but Faison was the leading receiver vs IU and UGA. Worth noting for everyone who thinks he’s going to take the back seat this year.
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Indiana, okay.

But being the lead receiver in the UGA game isn't really saying much, since ND only had 90 yards passing in that game.
 
T-Boone

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Dale said:
I suppose Jordan Faison can also improve then, by that simplistic logic. I’ll take the guy already equipped with elite short area quickness and burst
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I am gob smacked by the low opinion some have of Faison. He was very impressive his first year and end of last year when finally 100%. All he needs is 100% fitness rather than ancle issues and he will put on a show. I think bad hands last year was a confidence thing due to ancle injury. All told bar 2 games (final & semi) he has been more impressive than Greathouse who also only needs 100% fitness to be a very good player.
 
Te'o4Heisman

Te'o4Heisman

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T-Boone said:
I am gob smacked by the low opinion some have of Faison. He was very impressive his first year and end of last year when finally 100%. All he needs is 100% fitness rather than ancle issues and he will put on a show. I think bad hands last year was a confidence thing due to ancle injury. All told bar 2 games (final & semi) he has been more impressive than Greathouse who also only needs 100% fitness to be a very good player.
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I feel like I am on crazy pills in this thead. “Barring the final and semi”….what? So take away our two most important games of the year where he didn't show up? (3 catches for 31 yds combined) Ok fine..he had 4 catches for under 50 yds against UGA. He had a good game against Indiana. Before that in consecutive games he had 2 catches for 13 yds against USC. 2 catches for 46 yds against Army. 2 catches for 25 yds against UVA. 2 catches for 25 yds against FSU.

Staying healthy is part of performing. Sorry, I want him to succeed and blow it up and am rooting for him hard, but that is pretty underwhelming.
 
MacIrish75

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Te'o4Heisman said:
I feel like I am on crazy pills in this thead. “Barring the final and semi”….what? So take away our two most important games of the year where he didn't show up? (3 catches for 31 yds combined) Ok fine..he had 4 catches for under 50 yds against UGA. He had a good game against Indiana. Before that in consecutive games he had 2 catches for 13 yds against USC. 2 catches for 46 yds against Army. 2 catches for 25 yds against UVA. 2 catches for 25 yds against FSU.

Staying healthy is part of performing. Sorry, I want him to succeed and blow it up and am rooting for him hard, but that is pretty underwhelming.
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I mean we weren’t exactly lighting the world on fire with our passing attack last year. I’m not sure those numbers are an indictment of Faison’s ability. Moreso a byproduct of how we executed on offense in ‘24. Faison, in my recollection, had a few drops but also proved to be one of our more dynamic targets.
 
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BabyIrish

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Te'o4Heisman said:
I feel like I am on crazy pills in this thead. “Barring the final and semi”….what? So take away our two most important games of the year where he didn't show up? (3 catches for 31 yds combined) Ok fine..he had 4 catches for under 50 yds against UGA. He had a good game against Indiana. Before that in consecutive games he had 2 catches for 13 yds against USC. 2 catches for 46 yds against Army. 2 catches for 25 yds against UVA. 2 catches for 25 yds against FSU.

Staying healthy is part of performing. Sorry, I want him to succeed and blow it up and am rooting for him hard, but that is pretty underwhelming.
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Didn’t show up? Just because he had 3 receptions in those two games didn’t mean he didn’t show up. There are a lot of factors outside your control in terms of your stats. Did the OC game plan for you to be the go to receiver? Was the QB looking your way? Were you double teamed or bracketed?

How was his blocking? His route running? Give the kid a break. He’s working his ass off to play two sports, do well in the classroom, be a good teammate, etc. He should get nothing but respect from us fans and hopes that he has a good season. We’ll be a better team for it.
 
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I am extremely high on Faison. I know his returning production won't jump off the page at you, but his ability sure jumps off the film. He is a type that will really flourish with an accurate QB. He is impressive in and out of his breaks. He is also fun with the ball in his hands. Don't look past him. I think we are in for a great year from our slot receivers.
 
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I think a majority of the WR's were hampered last year due to Leonard being a run first QB and he really didn't start throwing the ball until the last 1/3 of the season. I think A. Having a throwing QB like Carr, and B. a bonafide stud WR Fields is gonna open up so much more for the other WR's. I wouldn't be surprised if we have 4-5 WR's over 500 yards this year.
 
rtrn2glory

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I would be really surprised to see that type of production from the receiving core considering we're still going to rely heavily on the run game and we have 2 of the most explosive RBs in the country
 
Irish du Nord

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Crazy Balki said:
Indiana, okay.

But being the lead receiver in the UGA game isn't really saying much, since ND only had 90 yards passing in that game.
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And he had 46 yards, so he was half of our receiving production in a game we won by two scores.

If any of our receivers averaged 46 yards per game, they would’ve led the team in yards. He had a good game vs UGA
 
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rtrn2glory said:
I would be really surprised to see that type of production from the receiving core considering we're still going to rely heavily on the run game and we have 2 of the most explosive RBs in the country
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I think Fields, Greathouse, Pauling are all locks to get over 500 yards, I think Faison, Burress, and Love will be close.
 
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The staff clearly thinks highly of Faison considering the way they schemed the ball into his hands (KR vs IU, 2pt conversion OSU for example). He has a dynamic skillset that we THOUGHT we had with Tyree, for example. The "get him the ball in space and watch his shiftiness take over" kind of skillset. He might not be your prototypical slot, but he will certainly have a key role on this '25 team.
 
IrishLax

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Te'o4Heisman said:
Others may prefer to take the guy who has actually proven it for a season though. Faison has been pretty underwhelming overall minus a flash here and there.
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I think this is really overstating the reality of the situation. He came out of nowhere as a true freshman walk-on where he was doing so well against our 1st teamers as part of the scout team that players literally went to the offensive coaches and were like "hey this guy is legit harder to cover than all of the starters." They basically forced Porker to give him a shot and he immediately scored a long TD against a ranked team. And then after given more reps with the 1s and more snaps during the games, he scored 3 TDs over his last 3 games and averaged 70+ yards a game.

Then he comes into 2024 and immediately gets hurt Week 1, misses half the season, is limited the other half of the season... and then is super productive for the playoffs after getting a break to recover and get near 100%.

His biggest issue is durability, not capability. Everything I have heard is that the top 4 WRs are Fields, Greathouse, Pauling, Faison. And that Fields is going to come off the field very rarely because his skills work for every down and distance, but the other three you can joystick around a little more. Faison is the most explosive, Greathouse is the most consistent and versatile, Pauling really gets open with ease from the slot. Everyone has a role and Faison is inline to probably get 30+ snaps a game and 4+ targets/touches as long as he can stay healthy. He does stuff that the other guys on the roster don't do, and when you lack do-it-all freaks like Ohio State and some others have then that's how you have to scheme things up.
 
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IrishLax said:
I think this is really overstating the reality of the situation. He came out of nowhere as a true freshman walk-on where he was doing so well against our 1st teamers as part of the scout team that players literally went to the offensive coaches and were like "hey this guy is legit harder to cover than all of the starters." They basically forced Porker to give him a shot and he immediately scored a long TD against a ranked team. And then after given more reps with the 1s and more snaps during the games, he scored 3 TDs over his last 3 games and averaged 70+ yards a game.

Then he comes into 2024 and immediately gets hurt Week 1, misses half the season, is limited the other half of the season... and then is super productive for the playoffs after getting a break to recover and get near 100%.

His biggest issue is durability, not capability. Everything I have heard is that the top 4 WRs are Fields, Greathouse, Pauling, Faison. And that Fields is going to come off the field very rarely because his skills work for every down and distance, but the other three you can joystick around a little more. Faison is the most explosive, Greathouse is the most consistent and versatile, Pauling really gets open with ease from the slot. Everyone has a role and Faison is inline to probably get 30+ snaps a game and 4+ targets/touches as long as he can stay healthy. He does stuff that the other guys on the roster don't do, and when you lack do-it-all freaks like Ohio State and some others have then that's how you have to scheme things up.
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Exactly! Well said.
 
Dale

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Te'o4Heisman said:
Oh i dont know, a guy that had 40 something catches last year and the year before that had 60 something for 700 yds. That 700 ydd by itself is more than Faison has had in his career spanning a full season and a half including the full season being 16 games. Last year in his down year his two best games were against Penn St and Alabama going for 17 catches and 162 yds in those games. Pauling is substantially proven relative to what Faison has actually done on the field. This isnt your opinion, this facts.
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Ah yes some nice box scores. Volume proves Pauling can play college football at a certain level. Nobody doubts that. Is a a proven CFP level WR? No. Is he a proven Z receiver? No. Is he proven to be a threat after the catch? No. Proven threat down the field? No. So he is “proven” just because you box score scouted is not the goal we should be shooting for. Not every single WR that can catch passes is better than Faison for what this team is or can be. Pauling would be a god send for the 2023 team, we are shooting higher now. Most underlying metrics for playing WR do not reflect well on Pauling. I’ve watched Wisconsin play. He’s a guy. He is not a DUDE. I’ve said since the second we signed him he should be better than Harrison but not Greathouse/Faison. I think if we get that + veteran leadership we got what we needed. I’m not hating on Pauling but people also use him to dump on Faison and I just don’t think that is correct. There is a very “I don’t wanna play with you anymore” energy on Faison and I don’t get it if people just watch the ceiling he has.
 
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NDFAN2008

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IrishLax said:
I think this is really overstating the reality of the situation. He came out of nowhere as a true freshman walk-on where he was doing so well against our 1st teamers as part of the scout team that players literally went to the offensive coaches and were like "hey this guy is legit harder to cover than all of the starters." They basically forced Porker to give him a shot and he immediately scored a long TD against a ranked team. And then after given more reps with the 1s and more snaps during the games, he scored 3 TDs over his last 3 games and averaged 70+ yards a game.

Then he comes into 2024 and immediately gets hurt Week 1, misses half the season, is limited the other half of the season... and then is super productive for the playoffs after getting a break to recover and get near 100%.

His biggest issue is durability, not capability. Everything I have heard is that the top 4 WRs are Fields, Greathouse, Pauling, Faison. And that Fields is going to come off the field very rarely because his skills work for every down and distance, but the other three you can joystick around a little more. Faison is the most explosive, Greathouse is the most consistent and versatile, Pauling really gets open with ease from the slot. Everyone has a role and Faison is inline to probably get 30+ snaps a game and 4+ targets/touches as long as he can stay healthy. He does stuff that the other guys on the roster don't do, and when you lack do-it-all freaks like Ohio State and some others have then that's how you have to scheme things up.
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Any chance we see Fields line up at TE some?
 
GoldenToTheGrave

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The good news is with our ultra thin TE depth chart and invevitable injuries we're going to have more than 3 guys that will be catching the ball at the WR position.
 
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