Kaden Wetjen was surprised when the Pittsburgh Steelers used a fourth-round pick on a return specialist. The Iowa senior, considered the top returner in college football, was on the golf course Saturday when he got the call.
But the Steelers bolstered their special teams by selecting Wetjen with the 121st pick in the NFL Draft, starting his draft day celebration a little earlier than he’d expected. His parents were at his younger brother’s track meet at the time.
“The plan was to kind of text everybody after I got the information, have everybody over tonight,” Wetjen said. “Thankfully it happened earlier than we expected. And I didn’t shank it into the pond after I got picked, so everything is going good.”
Wetjen has both the numbers and the awards to rightfully say he’s the nation’s best returner.
The 5-foot-9, 193-pound wide receiver led FBS with 1,039 combined return yards last season and became the first two-time winner of the Jet Award as the most outstanding return specialist in college football. Wetjen ranked first nationally in punt return average (26.8 yards per punt) and second in kickoff return average (29.8 yards per kick).
“He is what I refer to as a catch-run-cut player,” Steelers special teams coordinator Danny Crossman said. “A lot of guys are looking to cut, maybe before they need to. He is fearless, and he’s not going to make the cuts until he has to.”
Crossman highlighted Wetjen as a great decision maker and said the Steelers liked his ability to return both kicks and punts. Wetjen returned three punts and one kickoff for touchdowns last year.
“They’re two completely different things,” Crossman said of the skillsets needed. “Catching the ball on punts is completely different than any other catch you will make because of the spin and rotation of the ball.”
The Steelers’ return units were both below average last season. They ranked 21st in average punt return (8.8 yards) and 28th in average kickoff return (24.2 yards). Their returners from last season are largely gone.
Wetjen was the Steelers’ first pick on Day 3.
He is the seventh Iowa player on the Steelers’ roster, joining Hawkeyes guard Gennings Dunker, who was a third-round pick Friday.
“They were my only formal interview at the combine,” Wetjen said. “I talked to everybody there and they all said it was a great interview. I loved the people I talked to there, so it was definitely a place I was wanting to land and was familiar with.”
Iowa used Wetjen sparingly as a receiver and rusher. He had 151 receiving yards and a touchdown on 20 catches last season while rushing for 562 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries.
But Wetjen used the Shrine Bowl as a chance to show his offensive potential as a wide receiver. The former high school running back said he’s open to whatever the Steelers might have in mind.
“That’s up to the coaches, but we talked about everything,” Wetjen said. “I’m super comfortable with whatever, and hopefully they’re over there planning on doing that.”
Wetjen, who described himself as a 14-handicap, interrupted his golf round Saturday afternoon for a media conference call.
“I’m walking up the ninth right now, if you can hear me panting,” he said. “I told my friends just to go back up to the clubhouse. I got media to talk to.”
Might he finish his golf round?
“No. We’re going back to party now,” he said. “Enjoy the rest of the day. It’ll be a good day.”