Greg Paulus’ next move: college football
Greg Paulus
By now you’ve heard about Duke point guard Greg Paulus‘s tryout with the Green Bay Packers to play quarterback. But before Paulus goes pro, the former high school All-American is getting a crack at playing college football for a year.
Duke football coach David Cutcliffe said he’s willing to let Paulus try out for the team, only he’ll have to be a receiver, not a quarterback. The Blue Devils are just wrapping up spring practices, and Cutcliffe said he and Paulus have talked “extensively” about the 6-1, 180-pound senior playing.
“He’s a quarterback at heart, but there was no way he was going to be able to compete and play quarterback for us,” Cutcliffe told ESPN. “I think that was the deciding factor. Prior to our last six practices, I was going to try to get him out, give him a chance to work at slot receiver. He’s a fierce competitor, a great young man. He’s been a tremendous basketball player.”
There’s another twist, though. Cutcliffe could be talking in past-tense because Paulus reportedly may transfer to another school to play football. He’s been seen on the campus at Michigan, where the Wolverines’ spread offense is more conducive to Paulus playing QB than Duke’s pro-style offense.
If you’re wondering how much eligibility Paulus has after he just played four years of D-1 basketball, here’s the best explanation from what I gathered:
College athletes are granted 10 semesters of eligibilty to play sports, or basically five years total, but only four per sport. Four years of basketball equals eight semesters, so Paulus should have one year left to play another sport. Paulus never used his basketball redshirt, so he’d have one more year of eligibility if he stays at Duke or transfers. At least that’s how I think it goes. If you have a better explanation, please feel free to share. One way or another, Paulus can apparently play football next year if he wants.
So if you’re in his position, what do you do? You can…
(A) play WR at Duke, likely as a backup
(B) play QB at Michigan, likely as a backup
(C) start your pro basketball career overseas or in the D-League
(D) take that Duke education and get some cushy job through a Blue Devils booster.
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April 15th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
IGP says:
I’d do option C or D. I don’t think he is a pro basketball player, but he could definitely get looks overseas, and if you can do that, fuck it why not?
April 15th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Taj says:
A then D…
April 15th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
BRUCE says:
E — Try out UNC Football.
April 15th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Raj S says:
C
He isn’t nimble enough on his feet to get away from D-1 football players. You think basketball players are athletic? They are not ready for the athleticism of football players in either the Big 10 or ACC.
April 15th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
tim says:
he’s only 6-1….what kind of 6-1 pro football players are there….I mean he could get away with that in college…but in the pros. i doubt it. He ain’t Drew Brees
April 15th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Austin Burton says:
@tim — Height isn’t the issue. A lot of football players are Paulus’ height, but I wonder if he’s fast enough (if he’s trying to play WR) and has good enough hands. I took a random sample of receivers to see how tall they were: Anquan Boldin is 6-1, Marty Booker is 6-0, Dwayne Bowe is 6-2, Deion Branch is 5-9, Issac Bruce is 6-0. Teams love WR’s who are 6-4 or 6-6, but that’s not the norm.
April 15th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
I’d go with D- …it will be the most lucrative for him. Unless he wants to go play ball overseas.
D-Leaguers dont make crap and being a back up college football player certainly doesnt.
Time to think about the future…
April 15th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
John Edwards says:
This jigga needs to find him a real job. Being a dick
April 15th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Bron42 aka In livin color says:
@austin, um ya but those guys are all freak athletes or built like tanks. Paulus is built like a pro bowler. Not to mention height matters alot. Chris leak won a national championship at floria but went undrafted cuz he was ony 6’1. Troy smith won the heisman and lost in the national game (to leak) and is a good athlete…hes barely a 3rd string QB on the ravens. So no short QBS or slow WRS/CBs. He needs to hop on the college sports commentator gig like my boy Jay and just fade away from actual sports.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Austin Burton says:
@Bron42 — Yeah, that’s why I said Paulus’ main concern at WR would be speed and hands. Marvin Harrison is short and he’s not built like a tank, but he can catch, he’s fast, and he runs precise routes. At QB, height is very important. That’s why I always have to argue with people up here in Seattle who think Seneca Wallace will be a good starting QB someday. He’s just too short.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Bron42 aka In livin color says:
marvin harrison is a hall of famer lol and paulus never was known for his speed. His best hope would be a welker kinda reciever but even he was a no body for a while until he got to the patroits. either way..theres tons of guys who actually PLAY college football in those positions that would be better than him.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
CCB says:
SImple statement is that no one knows how well he would perform. In all honesty high school numbers don’t always equate to success but they are a real gauge for college success when you look at the numbers. So the guy was a damn 11000 yard passer, that means he knows the game. He may have been out of it for a minute but simply competing at the highest level of D-1 hoops makes him heads and shoulders above a high school player entering a program. More importantly he played the toughest position in high school and then played the toughest position in college hoops. I think too slow is code for too white, hate to say that but keep it real son. There are a lot of players in the NFL who made a fantastic living in the NFL who were slow, white and but had incredible hands. Steve Largent and Chris Collinsworth pop up in the short term. Also let’s remember that weight training for hoops is completely different than football. I think he could bulk up some and retain a bit of his agility and at his age he is about to hit that point where guys really come into their own physically and mentally. Am I playing devil’s advocate, of course, but I wouldn’t knock a cat that played at the high major level hoops level. I’d give him a 75% chance at being successful at Michigan as a QB or as a WR at Duke. I’d like to see him at my alma mater with the new coach from Ball State. He would at least help SDSU sell out some games again and get us back to the Marshall Faulk days.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
CCB says:
In terms of ticket sales…
April 15th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
tim says:
@ Austin…i meant with him playing QB at Michigan…I meant the QB michigan is playing in spring is only 6′, but for a future pro career ain’t much there…
April 15th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Dennis says:
I bet the Canadian Football League would look at him. A certain Doug Flutie did very well there once upon a time.
April 15th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
haslem says:
D will always be there for him. that can wait. I never really watch him play is he THAT bad at bball he dosent even have a chance at the NBA? I mean prolly not that athletic but does he have NO chance? I’ll put it like this if football wasn’t even an option what would be the conversation about this guy?
April 15th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Bron42 aka In livin color says:
@CCB, Um by too slow i meant exactly that, too slow. I dont care if your black,white or yellow, if your not running a 4.5 or less, your not gettin drafted at WR at 6’1 or smaller. And naming 2 guys from back in the day and calling it “alot of white guys” doesn’t really help. And sure he can bulk up, but hes not gonna turn into a athlete. basetball wise hes small, let alone high impact football wise. His stature combined with his lack of athletic ability is what would hold him back. This isn’t Rudy man. Sure he went to a major D-1 school and played point BUT he also lost his pg stop cuz he couldnt keep up and didn’t handle pressure well. Like i said, sure he could be decent as a backup in college but to think hes gonna go and just dust off his shoulder pads and turn into tim tebow (who wont even be a good pro) is kinda niave to say.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
frederick ruger says:
E). Declare for MLB draft. Spend three years in farm system. QB one mediocre year at Michigan. Get drafted in 9th round, hope to become the next Drew Henson or Chris Weinke.
April 15th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
POPPI GEE says:
Yea Gregg go play football.
Dang tough loss, but a needed one I think. The Rockets 1 have to maintain through a whole game and can’t lose their heads defensively.
I will be going back to this game in the playoffs as I feel it really will help focus dudes.
Mark Cuban is stupid.
Props to Dallas and Kidd making big plays and Terry is nice.
April 15th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
POPPI GEE says:
Aww tonight is sucking. Oh well there goes Houston’s homecourt. So hard to be good teams at home and tonight Portland, Dallas and the Spurs represented well!
April 16th, 2009 at 1:35 am
haslem says:
GO TO THE NBA PAULAS AT LEAST TRY MAN!
April 16th, 2009 at 1:47 am
sans says:
Go to UM, use your redshirt, leave with your MA…learn how to play football for a year then give it a go in your final year of eligibility…shit, if he gets injured, god forbid, he could use that eligibility to get his Doctorate.
After that, do whatever, nothing’s better than having free degrees (other than professional sports money).
April 16th, 2009 at 1:48 am
haslem says:
so yea this time minus the caps, If paulas has any chance of making the L he should go for it.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:09 am
sans says:
Paulas has no chance of making the L…
but I forgot that he’d automatically have to wait a year to play due to transferring if he went UM, he legitimately has 3 years of college in him if he wants to go that route.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:39 am
haslem says:
but y not? how TERRIBLE can he be? he was a starting PG for Duke for 3 years, and he didn’t embarrass him self (save for getting dunked on a few times). I’m not saying he’d be an all start (obviously never would be) but have u seen some of the dudes drafted on reputation alone?
April 16th, 2009 at 5:34 am
iain. says:
@haslem
Yeah, guys have been drafted on reputation alone, the problem is Paulus’ reputation is that hes a small slow whiny bitch whos biggest claim to fame is being dunked on multiple times.
April 16th, 2009 at 8:10 am
J.Tobias says:
He’ll have another year of eligibility if he transfers as a grad. student allowing him a year to play football.
April 16th, 2009 at 9:21 am
kevin k says:
@ raj 2
“You think basketball players are athletic? They are not ready for the athleticism of football players in either the Big 10 or ACC.”
you are a freakking moron. in terms of athleticism alone, basketball players stand alone. look at some of the best pros in the NFL. Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Julius Peppers, TO, and Randy Moss all have basketball history.
They said AI was the best QB at Virgina not Vick and people thought Vick was a freak in the NFL… when he would have been just one of the athletes at best in the NBA.
6’4 for a WR is considered huge in the NFL… almost every swingman in the NBA could have been a great WR or TE in the NFL
i hate Paulus and may be a joke and is not even athletic for college basketball standards but he sure is damn athletic enough for football.
April 16th, 2009 at 9:28 am
Billy Bob says:
Either Option A or B, because who wouldn’t want to extend their college experience?
April 16th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Bron42 aka Had Springs Before Slamball says:
Kevin K, actually pound for pound most football players are better athletes that basketball players. Basketball players are taller but football players are usually overall better athletes. A 5’10 CB would have to jump higher to be effective at his position than a 6’8 SG would at his position. Like if you compare combine results for NBA draft and NFL, NFL usually blows them out the water for overall strength/athletic ability. take kevin durant who coudln’t even bench his own weight, but is still a star in the nba. Your not gonna find many football players who can’t bench 225 at least once. So just cuz your a big strong athlete basketball wise, doesn’t really clearly translate to NFL which is why guys like lebron and griffin would get folded in half if they played WR and did anything other than just run straight fly routes to the end zone. That being said, a good amount of the “elite athlete” guys in the NFL have basketball backrounds. Most common answer for is “I used to play basketball and then I stopped growing in 10th grade” like the WR from maryland said this year and hes 6’4 running a 4.3.
April 16th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Bron42 aka Had Springs Before Slamball says:
so in short, paulus was a weak athlete in NCAA, and he shouldnt even be on the radar as a athlete for most D1 football schools let alone NFL if your basing it on athletic ability.
April 16th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Drink the Haterade (KB24 Chip 09) says:
Bron, Im sorry but anybody who puts up 11,000+ yards and starts for Duke at the point for 3 years has to be athletic… Not too mention his IQ is probably really high.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Austin Burton says:
Strictly based on athleticism, if Jared Lorenzen can get a QB job in the NFL, Greg Paulus can get a job.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
92021SpurMD says:
Good point AB. But for real, Paulus can shoot, and gets mad hot at that, why doesn’t he have much of a future. He can’t shoot like J.J. Redick, but damn he hustles more and plays better D (not saying much since JJ plays none).
April 16th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Jim says:
He’s in the position to do whatever the hell he wants, which is pretty cool. I can’t imagine an NFL career in his future, not at 175 lbs. or whatever, at any position. He may run a 4.4 or whatever, but he’s still tiny. I don’t think you can just say “Wes Walker” because they’re both white. Walker is a lot bigger and has proven balls and hands and was a great receiver in the Big XII. Kevin Curtis ran a 4.25 or something, so people should check their athletic claims about basketball players.
I’m sure he’s a good enough athlete to play QB in the Big 10.
April 16th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
tim says:
Michigan has put out an offer to him apparemtly…
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4073430
April 16th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Russ says:
..he may just go from being my most hated basketball player(and I am a duke fan)….to my favorite football player if he pulls this off. Obviously if rich rod is willing to give up a scholly he must still have something left. I know it was high school, but that footage they showed this morning was impressive. Quick release..good mechanics. Threw a nicer looking ball than pryor at OSU I thought…and he is from my area.
Don’t be surprised if he pulls this off.
April 16th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
haslem says:
Are you saying Dan Dickau eats Paulus for breakfast? If so yea he can’t make it in the L. To me it seems like his football ability is confusing things. If he didn’t have the football option maybe he would be a 2nd round pick in mock drafts?
April 16th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
DurrtyInjun says:
Damn! I grew up a Michigan fan, until I went to college at MD, and still follow them. I actually thought Rich was a good hire at the time cuz he was doing a good job at WVU, but this is a very questionable move and not helping his case there.
And seeing how I don’t like Duke, even if he does well, I am going to have a hard time rooting for him. Right now the only Michigan player I can truly say I don’t like is Tom Brady (don’t ask me why cuz I don’t know, but didn’t like him in college, and def not with the Patriots), but Paulus has the potential to beat him out on my list.
April 16th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Kudabeen says:
I’m watching Paulus on PTI and he is a horrible interview to listen to. He says “Uh” and “Umm” to start, end, and carry every sentence…Horrible…Duke is better than that…I shrug it off as nerves and lack of experience talking about his athletic talents, but damn…
April 16th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Bron42 aka Had Springs before slamball says:
@Drink the Haterade (KB24 Chip 09), actually no. putting up numbers in a high school sport don’t instantly mean your great. He could of a)been in a pass happy league. b)played in sub par comp. I kno a kid at ESU (D2 college) who was puttin up NFL numbers at WR merely because they ran the ball maybe once a game. He was a average WR at best but if you throw the ball 60 times a game, he can pad stats. As for him playing at duke. That doesn’t really help the point since he was considered unathletic there and lost his spot. Sure he went to duke but his only high lights were being on the bad side of other peoples high lights. His best feature is his IQ.
@AB, Jared Lorenzen didn’t come out of retirement after 4 years and just decide to play. Not to mention hes 6’4 and like 300 lbs.
@Jim, I only named wes welker as a guy who doesn’t rely simply on athletic ability. And even he didn’t get his claim to fame until he got to play off of randy moss. Theres basketball players who can run a 4.3 but its really rare compared to football players who train just for that single event. So i’m not sure if you were agreeing with me or not.
@haslem, he would be more likely to go undrafted in the nba and then show up on some summer league team.Plain and simple, the fact is, while he got into duke so that shows he had SOME talent, he really didn’t do anything special the whole time he was there. Comparing him to JJ who lit up the ACC is a huge stretch when paulus was average his whole career.
April 17th, 2009 at 4:44 am
Austin Burton says:
Sean Dockery played PG at Duke, too. Doesn’t automatically make you NBA material.