David

Paulson

Paulson stands at 6'3/245 and is both an intelligent and hard-working player. He’s not very strong, though, and figures to contribute as a pass-catching H-Back. He scored 10 touchdowns on 67 career receptions at Oregon. He’s unlikely to beat out current Steelers’ H-Back David Johnson for regular reps, but could make the team as a reserve tight end and special teamer.

Paulson goes 6-foot-3, 247 and ran a 4.81 at the Combine. While obviously lacking an elite talent level, Paulson possesses soft hands and a knack for exploiting defensive soft spots. He’ll try to make the Steelers as a No. 3 tight end.

If so, it’s quite the downgrade. Paulson was a seventh-round pick out of Oregon in last year’s draft, and he appeared in all 16 games as a rookie, catching just seven passes for 51 yards. Practice squad-types Jamie McCoy and Zack Pianalto are the only other tight ends on the roster. Miller will be up against the clock for Week 1.

Paulson will be remembered for losing a fumble at the Bengals’ 16-yard line after a 34-yard catch-and-run in the first quarter. Filling in at tight end until Heath Miller (knee) returns, Paulson brings nothing to the table.

Miller is just over seven months removed from a devastating injury that saw him shred his ACL, MCL and PCL. The Steelers have put no timetable on their veteran tight end, but using reserve/PUP to start the season would make sense. That would cost Miller the first six weeks of the season. Backups Matt Spaeth and David Paulson have been sharing time with the first-team offense at camp.

This is the Chargers’ first round of cuts.

Paulson appeared in all 16 games each of the past two seasons, combining for 13 catches for 152 yards. Still only 25, he’ll look for work as a reserve.

Miller tore his ACL, MCL and PCL roughly seven months ago. He’ll open camp on the active/PUP list and is a serious candidate to start the season on the reserve/PUP list. Although recovery timetables for knee reconstructions are getting shorter, Miller already lacked elite athleticism and will turn 31 years old in October. It’s not fair to compare his recovery to that of Adrian Peterson or Robert Griffin III. David Paulson is the leading candidate to start Week 1 right now.

“Yep, he could possibly be the starter,” said Daniel. Paulson was a seventh-round pick out of Oregon in 2012, catching seven passes in his rookie year. He caught 31 balls as a college senior and ran a 4.93 forty at the Combine. With Heath Miller still rehabbing his triple-knee ligament tear, Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders project as potential target monsters in this offense.