Kaden Wetjen spent his Iowa career making people notice him on special teams, and now he’s started doing the same thing in the NFL.
The former Hawkeye made his preseason debut for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night, and he didn’t waste time flashing the speed that made him a two-time Jet Award winner and Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year. Drafted in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, Wetjen stepped into his first game in black and gold and quickly gave the new fan base a glimpse of why Pittsburgh wanted him.
His biggest moment came in the third quarter, when former Penn State quarterback Drew Allar hit him on an in route. Wetjen turned it into a 75-yard gain, racing down the sideline and coming up just short of the end zone. The Steelers didn’t make him wait long after that.
On Pittsburgh’s next possession, the offense marched to a first-and-goal at the Green Bay 5-yard line, and Allar rolled left before finding Wetjen wide open for the touchdown. It was Wetjen’s first professional score, a clean continuation of the knack for finding the end zone that he showed so often at Iowa.
By the end of the night, Wetjen had two catches for a game-high 79 receiving yards and the touchdown. He also handled return duties, logging three kick returns for 61 yards and two punt returns for 10 yards. For a Steelers team with playoff aspirations, the debut was the kind of early showing that hints at a bigger role ahead.
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