IOWA CITY - Iowa’s search for a new punt returner has settled, at least for now, on Evan James.
The Hawkeyes wide receiver has taken over that job in 2026 after arriving from Furman, and through six games he’s already given Iowa something it has long valued in special teams: a real chance to flip field position. James has handled 12 punt returns for 176 yards and a touchdown, an average of roughly 14.7 yards per try.
Special teams coordinator Chris Polizzi said on Oct. 13 that the work James has put in behind the scenes is a big reason the staff is sticking with him.
“He’s working at it,” Polizzi said. “We’re still early in the season, we feel our development and growth as a unit, and Evan has shown tremendous improvement from when he really started catching off the jugs to now.”
James’ role didn’t just fall into his lap. He was one of several Hawkeyes who “auditioned” this offseason after former Iowa return man and two-time Jet Award winner Kaden Wetjen was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Polizzi also gave Reece Vander Zee chances in the return game, and Vander Zee has four punt returns for 39 yards, a 9.8-yard average.
Replacing Wetjen was always going to be a tough ask, and both Polizzi and Kirk Ferentz said so in the preseason. But James’ habits have convinced the staff he can handle the job and keep growing into it.
“I think one of the things that you appreciate about him is when you see his practice habits, he's one of the first guys out there to catch jugs,” Polizzi said. “He stays late, he meets with our coaching staff here - on his own time to come watch not only his returns, but also, get some tips off the punter. Hey, this guy rolls out, hey, when he shifted this way, the ball's going to go this way.”
Polizzi said the next step is turning solid returns into explosive ones. He wants the unit to start finding those “chunk plays,” where a modest gain becomes something much bigger.
“It’s somebody that we trust as this guy’s got game-breaking ability, and you can see the way guys block for him, they trust him to go and make plays,” Polizzi said. “If we can get 10 more yards, boy, that's a first down.
To get a 30-yarder versus Washington, that's huge. The ability to get kind of those chunk plays.”
James’ early production has him 15th nationally in punt return yardage and among 36 players in the country with a punt return touchdown this season. Those numbers also earned him a spot on the Jet Award Midseason List, the same honor Wetjen captured the last two seasons.
Polizzi said the progress is encouraging, but he still sees this as a unit under construction. Even so, he believes James could develop into another standout returner in the Hawkeyes’ long special teams line.
“I still don't think we've hit that era of a Tory Taylor, a Kaden Wetjen, a Nate Kaeding, a Drew Stevens, but I think these guys are working toward it,” Polizzi said. “I point to the culture that Coach Ferentz sets and, you know, between the strength staff and athletic training and the assistance that we have here, it's everything's simpler because they - they've walked that before.”
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