Pittsburgh turned to special teams help on the third day of the 2026 NFL Draft, selecting Iowa wide receiver Kaden Wetjen with the 121st overall pick in the fourth round. Wetjen arrives as one of college football’s most decorated return men, a player whose name was built more on game-breaking kicks and punts than on volume as a receiver.
Wetjen finished his Iowa career with 54 punt returns for 954 yards and four touchdowns, along with 56 kickoff returns for 1,538 yards and two scores. He also caught 23 passes for 197 yards and one touchdown over three seasons, starting seven of the 40 games he played for the Hawkeyes.
His best work came in 2025, when he set Iowa’s single-season punt return yards record with 563 and helped push his résumé into rare territory. Wetjen was the first two-time winner of The Jet Award, earned consensus All-American honors and was named first-team All-Big Ten by coaches and media, while also drawing first-team All-Big Ten recognition as a return specialist.
That season also produced two of the plays that defined his draft profile. Against UMass, Wetjen returned four punts for 182 yards, including a 95-yard touchdown in a 47-7 win. Later, at Rutgers, he opened the game by taking the kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in a 38-28 victory.
The Steelers’ pick reflects how far Wetjen’s value traveled beyond the box score. At Iowa, he was known primarily for what he did in space on special teams, where his 954 punt return yards, 1,538 kickoff return yards and six career return touchdowns made him one of the most dangerous returners in the program’s history. The kaden wetjen draft outcome gives Pittsburgh a player whose college résumé was built on field position, momentum and the kind of burst that can flip a game in one touch.
For Wetjen, the next step is no longer about collecting awards or setting school records. It is about proving that the same return skills that made him a standout at Iowa can translate to the NFL, where one clean lane or one missed tackle can still change a game in an instant.
