2012 NFL Draft - Steelers Seventh Round Selection
DAVID PAULSONTight EndOregon6:04-241Auburn, WashingtonRiverside High School7th Round – 240th OverallCAREER NOTES
Played in 41 games in four seasons, starting 26 of 27 games in his final two years … Registered 67 receptions for 1,041 yards with 10 touchdowns … Earned All-Pac-12 second team (Pac-12 coaches, Phil Steele), Capital One academic all-district 8 and Pac-12 all-academic first team as a senior ... As a junior was named Honorable Mention All-America (SI.com), first-team all-Pac 10 (Pac-10 Coaches, Scout.com), second-team all-Pac 10 (Phil Steele) and first-team Pac-10 all-Academic.
2011 SEASON
All-Pac-12 second team (Pac-12 coaches, Phil Steele) … Capital One academic all-district 8 and Pac-12 all-academic first team selection … Selected to play in the East-West Shrine Game for the West … Appeared in 14 games, starting 13 … Team's third-leading receiver with 31 catches, 438 yards and six touchdowns … Made one grab for 10 yards in Oregon's Rose Bowl win vs. Wisconsin … Caught two passes, including a 22-yard touchdown in victory over UCLA in the Pac-12 Championship Game … Had a career-high 105 yards on eight receptions and a touchdown in win vs. Oregon State, earning national tight end performer of the week from the College Football Performance Awards … Three catches for 48 yards, made one tackle and caught a pass to convert on a 2-point conversion vs. USC … Three grabs for a team-high 65 yards and a touchdown in win at Washington … Two receptions for 31 yards vs. Washington State … Caught a touchdown for the second straight game and had two catches for a team-high 48 yards in win at Colorado … Also passed for a 2-point PAT against the Buffaloes … Three catches for 41 yards and a TD in win over Arizona State … Led the team with 22 yards on three receptions and a touchdown at Arizona … Lone reception went for five yards in win vs. Nevada … Three grabs for 21 yards against LSU … Led all tight ends in vertical leap (28.5 inches), fly 30 (3.09 seconds), shuttle (4.21 seconds) and "L" run (7.27) during winter conditioning … Led the White Team with four catches for 42 yards in the spring game.
2010 SEASON
Honorable mention All-America selection by SI.com … First-team all-Pac-10 according to the conference coaches and Scout.com, and a second-team choice by Phil Steele … Pac-10 all-Academic first team … One of just four conference players to be named first-team all-Pac-10 and all-Academic … Third on the team in receiving yards with 418 and second among receivers/tight ends with four touchdowns … Led all players who made at least 13 catches, averaging 17.4 yards per reception … Started every game at tight end and logged the second-most plays on the team … Caught three passes for 48 yards in the BCS National Championship Game vs. Auburn … Three catches for a team-high 48 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown in win vs. Arizona … Three catches for 41 yards vs. Washington … Lone reception went for eight yards at USC … Equaled career high with four catches for 62 yards and a touchdown vs. UCLA, earning national tight end performer of the week from the College Football Performance Awards …19-yard grab in win at Washington State and a 13-yard catch vs. Stanford … Career-long 61-yard reception among his two catches for a team-high 76 yards at Arizona State … Caught a touchdown for the second straight game and had four receptions and 61 yards in win at Tennessee … Made two grabs for 42 yards, including the first touchdown of his career on a 30-yard reception vs. New Mexico … Shared honors as team's fastest tight end during winter workouts, recording an electronic time of 4.89 in the 40-yard dash … Was position's co-leader with a 297-lb. clean, in addition to leading all tight ends with a 28.5-inch vertical leap.2009 SEASON
Emerged as a dependable option coming off the bench and one of the Ducks' most improved contributors, both as a receiver as well as from the line of scrimmage … Added a personal single-game high three catches for 20 yards vs. Washington State … Yet few catches may have been any bigger than his lone grab (10 yards) at UCLA … Latched onto the football near the Oregon sidelines to keep a drive alive that resulted in an Oregon touchdown drive … In fact the season was epitomized by his big grabs as 11 of his 12 receptions resulted in first downs, while 11 catches contributed to Oregon scoring drives … His season-best 59 receiving yards at Washington included a 32-yard first-down catch on 3rd-and-25 from the UO 48-yard line … Also made the deciding block downfield on LaMichael James' 56-yard TD run against the Huskies … Recorded one reception for 27 yards - the longest passing play of the game - in first career start at Boise State, before returning the following week to add one catch for 11 yards vs. Purdue … Totaled 12 catches for 185 yards for a team-best 15.4-yard average … After catching passes in eight of his team's first nine games, was held without a reception for a two-game stretch before latching onto a 10-yard catch in the regular-season finale vs. Oregon State … Selected as a Pac-10 Conference first-team academic all-league choice with a 3.68 GPA in business administration.
2008 SEASON
Saw his first game action as a collegian in win over Utah State.
2007 SEASON
Made the most of his redshirt season, earning scout team player of the week honors for his work leading up to wins vs. Houston, at Stanford and vs. Washington State.
BEFORE OREGON — Considered among the top prospects in the state as evidenced by his No. 4 selection on the Tacoma News Tribune's Northwest Nuggets list … Also ranked 16th on SuperPrep's Northwest Hot 100 ledger … The first-team 3A all-state linebacker (Associated Press) was tabbed as one of the nation's top 50 tight ends after hauling in 18 catches for 182 yards his senior season … Played QB for the Ravens in his senior season … Still attracted SPSL 3A league defensive back of the year acclaim as well as second-team all-conference attention at quarterback … Received pre-season All-America attention by SuperPrep prior to his final prep campaign after catching 35 passes for 375 yards and seven touchdowns in 2005 as the second-team all-state tight end … Full name: David Joshua Paulson … Son of Scott and Kristi Paulson … Has two brothers … Major: Business.
David Paulson Conference Call TranscriptDAVID PAULSONTight End7th Round – 240th OverallDescribe the type of player you are.
I have experience in a lot of different things. I've lined up in the backfield, in the slot, played some H-back, some true tight end, so I'm experienced in a lot of different things. I'm excited to take that to the next level.
When it comes to being a fullback, how much do you like that, how much have you done and what do you think of that role if called upon?
I played some fullback at the East-West Shrine game. I played it in the backfield a little bit here at Oregon, not a true fullback but kind of a split-back look, but I don't have that much experience doing it. I'm willing to do whatever it is to help the team win.
Did you save any of those sweet chrome helmets?
Yeah, we wore some sweet chrome helmets in the Rose Bowl.
* COMING SOON - VIDEO: Tight Ends Coach James Daniel on David Paulson
Tight Ends Coach James Daniel on David PaulsonRe: David Paulson:
He's a tight end that has played in a multiple offense. He has done some in-line stuff, some backfield stuff and some slot stuff. He's a guy that has some talent and some position flexibility for us.
Is that important considering how the tight end position has evolved?
Very much so.
How does his skill set help the offense?
He can catch, block in-line and block in the backfield. He can block in the slot. He's been playing in the Oregon offense, which is as wide open as any offense in college football right now. There have been some tight ends that have come out of that offense that are playing in the league right now. The kid in Baltimore (Ed Dickson) played in that offense. They have had some success.
Does his size compare to David Johnson?
No. Paulson has a different body build. Johnson is more of a fullback-type body. Paulson can do the fullback stuff but he's a little bit more wiry, and will probably be more of a combination guy than an isolation blocker.
Will he be a flex tight end?
Yeah.
Re: Comparisons to other tight ends:
I really hadn't assessed him based on other tight ends. He is a good football player. We watched the guy. He won't be overwhelmed by the physical part of the game. He won't be overwhelmed by the route running. I think he will come in and contribute on special teams. We have a guy that can contribute in all areas.
Did you see him playing fullback at the Shrine Game and is that where you saw his fullback skills?
Once we finished the season and we started looking at guys, all we did was look at their college tape. You look at their college tape first and then you start looking at all star games, because you want to give guys fair evaluations by evaluating them by what they did in their last year of college. There were some things that impressed me about him because of what he had on his college tape at Oregon, because they play a good level of competition. They played LSU. They played in some big ball games. We saw him in some big ball games.
