When the San Francisco 49ers signed Notre Dame wide receiver Will Pauling as an undrafted rookie following the 2026 NFL Draft, the odds of him making the 53-man roster appeared to be relatively slim. That's not necessarily a knock on Pauling. The 49ers have a crowded wide receiver room, and an undrafted rookie was always going to have a difficult time separating himself from the competition.
But now that training camp is underway, Pauling is trying to give the 49ers a reason to keep him around. The pads haven't come on yet, and there have only been two practices open to the media, but he's showing a skill that could give him a legitimate path onto the roster: punt return ability.
On Monday, Larry Krueger and Dieter Kurtenbach discussed Pauling's performance at practice and suggested the rookie has a chance to make the team. One thing they both noticed was how comfortable Pauling has looked fielding punts. That is significant because the 49ers have an open competition for their punt return duties.
"I actually think Pauling is going to be the last guy standing," Krueger said. "These Notre Dame guys typically achieve to their talent level. The one thing about Pauling, from an evaluation standpoint, I feel more comfortable in his evaluation because he's got both the measurables and the production, and he's done it in high-pressure situations."
Krueger pointed out that Pauling is an NFL athlete, possessing a 42" vertical and 4.3 speed. He was a productive college football wide receiver with only two drops last season. So he is sure-handed, something you want from a receiver and from a punt returner.
Kurtenbach added that in the punt receiving drills, Pauling "does look clean."
Jacob Cowing has experience as the punt returner, but injuries have limited his availability and his opportunity to establish himself. And as Krueger and Kurtenbach noted, Cowing hasn't done anything on offense through the first two days. According to both, passes thrown his way always seem too high.
Jordan Watkins, a 2025 pick out of Mississippi, is also in the mix. Junior Bergen remains another player to consider. Watkins has a chance to make the team, but Bergen seems like a long shot.
If Pauling can consistently field punts, make good decisions, and show that he can provide something as a returner, he could put himself in a position where the 49ers have to consider keeping him. That's a different conversation than the one surrounding Pauling when I included him among my undrafted rookie sleepers earlier this month.
At the time, I wrote that Pauling's best opportunity would likely come from his ability to create separation and his experience as a slot receiver and returner. The 49ers' decision to sign him made sense because he has a track record of getting open and making plays with the ball in his hands. Pauling finished his college career with 155 receptions for 1,753 yards and 15 touchdowns after playing at Cincinnati, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame. His best statistical season came in 2023 at Wisconsin, when he caught 74 passes for 837 yards and six touchdowns. His final season at Notre Dame wasn't quite as productive, with 26 catches for 381 yards, but he led the Fighting Irish with six touchdown receptions.
The concerns were fairly obvious. The 49ers list Pauling at 5-foot-9 and 183 pounds. He is primarily a slot receiver, which means he doesn't necessarily offer a ton of positional versatility. And unlike some of the other young receivers competing for roster spots, he entered camp without a clear advantage in terms of draft capital.
But Pauling's quickness and ability to separate have always been intriguing. A scouting report from The Draft Network described him as a shifty slot receiver who can make chain-moving plays, while highlighting his route quickness and ability to find open space against zone coverage. The report also noted his punt-return experience while pointing out concerns about his ability to handle contact and his limited positional flexibility.
Those are fair questions. However, the 49ers don't necessarily need Pauling to become a starting receiver to justify keeping him. They need to determine whether he can fill a role. And that's where the punt-return competition becomes so important.
A recent pre-camp projection from Sports Illustrated had Pauling behind Cowing and Bergen in the return competition. Another report from June called him a long shot to win the job, in part because of questions about his experience returning punts at the NFL level.
But that was before training camp. Now, according to the observations from Krueger and Kurtenbach, Pauling is looking more comfortable fielding punts than some of the players competing directly with him, including Cowing and Watkins. That's an intriguing development.
The 49ers don't have to decide today whether Pauling is their punt returner. But if he continues to look more natural and reliable than the competition, the equation could change quickly. The question then becomes whether he can do enough as a receiver to complement that ability. That's the biggest hurdle.
San Francisco's receiver room has plenty of competition, and Pauling will have to show that his quickness translates against NFL defensive backs. He will also have to demonstrate that he can contribute on special teams beyond simply fielding punts. But this is exactly how undrafted rookies create opportunities for themselves. They find something they can do better than the players ahead of them. For Pauling, that may be returning punts.
If Cowing struggles to stay healthy, Watkins doesn't separate himself from the competition, and Pauling continues to look comfortable and dependable handling punts, the rookie could force the 49ers to take a much longer look at him.
That doesn't mean Pauling is suddenly a favorite to make the 53-man roster. There are still too many variables. But I am more optimistic about his chances today than I was when I wrote about him earlier this month. The 49ers have a long history of finding undrafted players who eventually become important contributors. Matt Breida, Jeff Wilson Jr., Emmanuel Moseley, Jordan Mason, and Azeez Al-Shaair are all examples of players who entered the NFL without being drafted and earned their opportunities.
Pauling doesn't have to become the next one of those players this summer. He simply has to make the coaching staff believe that losing him would be a mistake. That starts now, but Pauling can make that most obvious in the preseason.
You can watch the full video with Krueger and Kurtenbauch below:
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