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To get some of the most specialized tight end teaching in the world, a young player first has to get through Maggie, Sheila and Alli.

These are Logan Paulsen and his wife Kelly’s rescue dogs, all different ages and sizes, all at the door of their comfortable northern Virginia home to greet his students for another day of film study and training.

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Paulsen, 38, spent a decade playing tight end in the NFL. He was never a star in the passing game but could seal a block better than most. Coaches always talked about him as a glue guy or an indirect coach they wanted on their roster, but he also got caught in waves of roster-churn cuts in the middle and later years of his career and became a journeyman rotating between multiple teams. Such is life for a No. 2 or 3 tight end.

Now, Paulsen teaches young tight ends the more complicated elements of the position as they prepare for the NFL Draft. His longtime agent and friend, Steve Caric, often sends clients to him in the winter and early spring for extra work, and Paulsen welcomes them into his home and his brain.

He has trained Terrance Ferguson, the Rams’ second-round pick this spring; Jake Tonges, the former undrafted free agent who recently filled in for All-Pro George Kittle in San Francisco while Kittle recovered from a hamstring injury and averaged about four catches per game with three touchdowns; and more than a dozen others over the last few offseasons.

The son of an engineer in a family of doctors and architects, Paulsen likes to understand how and why things work. His innate curiosity informed his mastery of less-heralded details like protections and blocking layers as a player, and still informs his teaching.

“Football is constantly evolving,” he said. “I can’t sit here and have a guy in my house talking about the expectations of the NFL if I don’t understand the direction that the NFL is going. Part of me is just like, I’m just chasing (knowledge) because it’s fun, and also because I want to hold a standard of teaching.”

Over weeks and even months, players break down hours of film with Paulsen in his living room and train on local fields near his house. When it rains or snows, he takes the players to the Dulles Sportsplex, an indoor sports and recreation facility, where they run routes a few yards away from youth soccer camps and grandmas walking with their weights.

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There is no shortage of clientele. These days, there is a bigger spotlight than ever on tight ends, both in pop culture and through a schematic resurgence across the NFL. Every team is looking for more than one good tight end, or trying to build one through training.

“When I was in college and watching tight ends, I feel like a majority of NFL fans could probably name maybe five to 10 starting tight ends in the NFL,” Kittle said.