Is Kaden Wetjen More Than a Return Specialist?

The Pittsburgh Steelers surprised plenty of people when they selected Iowa wide receiver and return specialist Kaden Wetjen with the 121st overall pick in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

There was little doubt about Wetjen’s ability with the ball in his hands. He was the most accomplished returner in college football, becoming the first player to win the Jet Award twice and producing six return touchdowns during his Iowa career.

The surprise was how early Pittsburgh took him.

Wetjen caught only 23 passes across three seasons with the Hawkeyes. He was generally projected as a late Day Three prospect whose clearest route into the NFL would be through special teams.

The Steelers did not wait.

They made Wetjen their first selection on the final day of the draft, indicating that they view him as more than an interchangeable return option. Pittsburgh believes his particular combination of vision, decisiveness, balance and cutting ability can become a genuine weapon under the NFL’s new kickoff structure.

Si, Gav and Ketts are joined by Iowa alum and Hawkeyes expert Hawkeye Matt to examine whether Wetjen can justify that confidence—and whether he offers anything beyond the return game.

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The best return specialist in college football

Wetjen’s return production was exceptional rather than merely impressive.

During the 2025 season, he returned 21 punts for 563 yards and three touchdowns. His average of 26.8 yards per punt return led the country and set both NCAA Division I and Big Ten single-season records.

He added 476 yards and another touchdown from 16 kickoff returns, giving him 1,039 combined return yards for the season. That total led the nation by more than 300 yards.

His four return touchdowns in 2025 came from:

• A 100-yard kickoff return against Rutgers

• A 95-yard punt return against UMass

• A 62-yard punt return against Michigan State

• A 50-yard punt return against Minnesota

Across his entire Iowa career, Wetjen returned four punts and two kickoffs for touchdowns. He averaged 17.7 yards on 54 punt returns and 27.5 yards on 56 kickoff returns.

Those are not ordinary college return numbers. Wetjen repeatedly changed games through field position, momentum and explosive scores.

The Steelers did not select a receiver who might also return kicks. They selected an elite returner and will now investigate how much additional offensive value they can extract from him.

What makes Wetjen such an effective returner?

Wetjen ran an official 4.47-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. That is good speed, but it does not fully explain why defenders find him so difficult to stop.

His greatest qualities are vision, urgency and body control.

Wetjen quickly identifies how the return is developing. He understands the positioning of his blockers, recognises the initial crease and gets moving vertically before the coverage unit can close it.

Some returners spend too long travelling sideways while searching for a perfect opening. Wetjen is much more decisive.

Steelers special teams coordinator Danny Crossman described him as a “catch-run-cut” player. Wetjen secures the ball, accelerates vertically and delays his change of direction until a defender forces him to make it. That patience makes his cuts more effective because he does not declare his intended path unnecessarily early.

His changes of direction are often subtle rather than dramatic.

A small shift of angle can preserve a return without sacrificing speed. Wetjen bends his route around blocks, makes late cuts in confined spaces and understands how one defender’s positioning affects the rest of the coverage unit.

He also has excellent control when fielding the ball while facing his own goal line. He can catch, rotate his body and begin moving upfield in one fluid sequence.

The result is a returner who appears to play faster than his timed speed.

Devin Hester and Jacoby Jones traits

Any comparison with Devin Hester must be treated carefully.

Hester is the greatest return specialist in NFL history. Nobody should expect Wetjen to reproduce that career simply because certain elements of their games look similar.

The comparison is about individual traits.

Wetjen occasionally displays the kind of vision and last-second directional adjustment that made Hester so dangerous. Both players could preserve a return through a small cut that appeared almost insignificant until the pursuing defender suddenly found himself on the wrong side of it.

Wetjen also has some of the contact balance associated with former Ravens returner Jacoby Jones.

At 5-foot-9 and approximately 196 pounds, Wetjen has a compact, powerful build. He can absorb glancing contact without immediately losing his feet and does not need a perfectly clean lane to create yardage.

He combines elements of both styles: the vision and angular cutting associated with Hester, alongside enough strength and balance to survive contact.

That does not guarantee NFL success. The coverage players will be faster, pursuit angles will close more quickly and opportunities for escape will be smaller.

But the route to becoming a significant NFL return weapon is visible on the tape.

The Tim Dwight comparison

Hawkeye Matt raised another particularly appropriate comparison: former Iowa and NFL returner Tim Dwight.

Dwight was an outstanding college return specialist who became a first-round selection of the Atlanta Falcons in 1998. He scored on a 94-yard kickoff return in Super Bowl XXXIII and remained a productive NFL returner for several teams.

Wetjen broke several of Dwight’s Iowa records and joined him as one of only two Hawkeyes to produce three returns of at least 80 yards. Iowa’s current conference award for return specialists is partly named after Dwight.

The comparison also introduces the concern surrounding Wetjen.

Dwight contributed offensively during his NFL career, but his greatest value remained in the return game. Can a player justify a fourth-round selection if he develops into an excellent specialist without becoming a meaningful receiver?

The answer depends on how much value the Steelers believe elite return play now carries.

Why the new kickoff rules matter

The NFL’s dynamic kickoff has changed the calculation surrounding return specialists.

The league made the format permanent before the 2025 season and moved touchbacks to the 35-yard line, encouraging teams to keep kicks in play rather than conceding strong automatic field position.

The effect was immediate. During the opening week of the 2025 season, 75.6% of kickoffs were returned—the highest rate recorded in any week since 2010. The return rate had fallen as low as 21.8% in 2023 under the previous structure.

The new format also rewards a slightly different style of returner.

Because coverage players and blockers begin closer together, the play now resembles a running play more than the old high-speed kickoff. Returners need to diagnose blocks, make a decisive vertical cut and accelerate through a developing crease.

Those are Wetjen’s best qualities.

Pittsburgh tried to prepare for the original rule change by signing Cordarrelle Patterson in 2024. That move did not produce the expected results, but it demonstrated that the organisation was searching for an advantage within the new structure.

Wetjen represents a younger and more specifically tailored attempt to find it.

Crossman called Wetjen Pittsburgh’s highest-rated dual returner and said the combination of punt and kickoff ability could become a major addition under the new rules.

This was therefore not simply a conventional fourth-round wide receiver evaluation. The Steelers were drafting for a part of the game that they believe has become substantially more important.

Was the fourth round too early?

Wetjen’s selection initially felt like a reach.

Return specialists are rarely valued as highly as conventional offensive or defensive starters, and many draft projections placed him considerably later than the fourth round.

There was an obvious opportunity-cost question.

Could the Steelers have selected a player with a clearer path to becoming a starter and still found Wetjen in the fifth, sixth or seventh round?

Possibly.

The problem is that teams do not know with certainty which prospects will remain available. If Pittsburgh regarded Wetjen as clearly superior to every other return option, waiting would have risked losing the specific player it wanted.

Day Three is also the point in the draft where teams begin prioritising conviction over consensus rankings.

By the 121st pick, the likelihood of finding an immediate conventional starter has already declined. A team that identifies somebody as the best player in the class at a particular specialist role may reasonably prefer that certainty over selecting its seventh-ranked developmental receiver or sixth-ranked reserve defensive back.

The selection will still require results to justify it.

If Wetjen becomes only an average returner and contributes nothing on offence, the fourth round will look expensive. If he regularly creates advantageous field position, produces explosive touchdowns and forces opponents to alter how they kick, the value calculation changes considerably.

Special teams yards do not appear in traditional offensive statistics, but they remain real yards.

Starting a drive at the 35 rather than the 20 can transform play calling, reduce pressure on the quarterback and increase the probability of scoring. A returner who consistently generates that advantage can influence games without recording an offensive touch.

Can he become an NFL receiver?

Wetjen’s college receiving production was extremely limited.

He caught 20 passes for 151 yards and one touchdown in 2025. Across three seasons at Iowa, he recorded 23 receptions for 197 yards and one score.

Most of those opportunities came close to the line of scrimmage. Iowa used him on screens, quick passes and manufactured touches rather than asking him to win consistently as a downfield route runner.

There are clear limitations.

Wetjen has a small catch radius and can allow the ball into his body rather than consistently catching it cleanly away from his frame. His size will make defeating physical press coverage difficult, and he is unlikely to become a regular winner on contested catches.

There is little evidence that he can line up outside, beat an NFL cornerback vertically and become a conventional starting receiver.

That does not mean he has no offensive role.

Wetjen’s acceleration, balance and open-field ability create several possible uses:

• Jet sweeps

• End-arounds

• Receiver screens

• Orbit motion

• Touch passes

• Backfield alignments

• Swing routes

• Quick comeback routes

• Designed touches against soft coverage

• Misdirection alongside another running back

Pittsburgh does not need Wetjen to become a complete receiver. It needs him to become credible enough that opposing defences cannot entirely dismiss him when he enters the offensive huddle.

If every Wetjen snap announces a sweep or screen, NFL defenders will react quickly. If he can develop several complementary routes and occasionally threaten vertically, his presence becomes harder to diagnose.

Did Iowa’s offence hide untapped ability?

Iowa’s offensive environment also matters when evaluating Wetjen’s receiving potential.

The Hawkeyes have not been known for producing an expansive or aggressive downfield passing game. Their offensive philosophy has traditionally prioritised ball control, field position, the running game and avoiding costly mistakes.

Wetjen was therefore not given the same opportunities as receivers operating in high-volume spread offences.

That creates a degree of uncertainty.

His lack of downfield production may reflect genuine limitations, but it may also reflect an offence that had little interest in asking him to perform those assignments.

The Steelers can now test whether his speed and movement skills translate to a broader route tree.

It would be unrealistic to expect a hidden starting receiver suddenly to emerge. However, there may be more offensive ability available than his college reception totals suggest.

Is there room for Wetjen, Heidenreich and Nowakowski?

The Steelers drafted several unusual offensive players who do not fit neatly into traditional positional categories.

Wetjen is primarily a return specialist with gadget potential.

Eli Heidenreich is a hybrid running back and receiver whose value may come through motion, receiving and special teams.

Riley Nowakowski is a fullback who can block like a traditional backfield player while contributing as a receiver.

There is some overlap between them, particularly around manufactured touches, motion and special-teams value.

However, Wetjen enters with the clearest defined job.

Pittsburgh drafted him specifically to return punts and kickoffs. Unless he struggles badly during the preseason, his return pedigree should make him a strong favourite for a place on the initial 53-man roster.

Wetjen does not necessarily invalidate the Heidenreich selection, but his presence increases the pressure on Heidenreich to demonstrate a separate value. Pittsburgh is unlikely to retain several players whose primary offensive description is simply “gadget weapon”.

Each will need to prove that he offers something the others cannot.

A drive starter and momentum changer

Wetjen’s value cannot be measured only through return averages.

A major return changes the emotional state of a game.

The defence makes a stop. The crowd rises. The opposing team punts, expecting to regain control through field position. Wetjen finds a crease and suddenly carries the ball back across midfield.

The offence enters with a short field, the stadium is alive and the opposing sideline has lost the benefit of the defensive stop it just produced.

Wetjen repeatedly created that effect at Iowa.

Hawkeye Matt described the anticipation that developed whenever opponents kicked him the ball. There was a genuine sense that something significant could happen on every opportunity.

That kind of threat can affect the opponent before the return begins.

Punters may sacrifice distance or hang time to keep the ball away from him. Kickers may choose a touchback rather than allowing him an opportunity. Coverage units may become less aggressive because they are concerned about losing lane discipline.

The best returners force teams to change their strategy.

That is what the Steelers are hoping Wetjen can become.

UK Steelers Podcast verdict

Kaden Wetjen’s selection in the fourth round was surprising, but it becomes easier to understand after studying the tape and considering the direction of the NFL kickoff.

Wetjen is not merely fast.

He has elite return vision, excellent body control, decisive vertical movement and the ability to make late directional adjustments without surrendering momentum. His production confirms what the film shows: he was the most dangerous return specialist in college football.

The questions concern everything beyond that role.

Wetjen has not demonstrated that he can become a conventional NFL receiver. His size, catch radius, release against press coverage and lack of downfield production all limit the projection.

His offensive future is more likely to involve manufactured touches than a traditional route-running workload.

That can still have value.

If Pittsburgh develops a small but credible offensive package for him while he becomes one of the NFL’s better dual returners, the fourth-round investment will make sense. If he forces touchbacks, flips field position and produces the occasional game-changing score, he will directly contribute to victories.

The Steelers may have taken Wetjen earlier than the wider draft consensus expected.

But they did so because they believed they had identified the best player available for a newly important role—and because waiting could have meant losing him.

Wetjen’s bread and butter will always be returning kicks.

The intriguing question is whether Pittsburgh can add enough gadget offence around that foundation to turn a specialist into a genuine weapon.

Did the Steelers reach for Kaden Wetjen, or did they get ahead of the league? Watch the full UK Steelers Podcast breakdown above and let us know what you think of the pick.