Kaden Wetjen Caps Historic Season as Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year
IOWA CITY - There was never much doubt, but now it’s official: Iowa’s Kaden Wetjen has been named the Big Ten’s Return Specialist of the Year for 2025. And if you’ve been watching Hawkeye football this season, you know exactly why.
Wetjen’s story is the kind that resonates in locker rooms and living rooms alike. A former walk-on from small-town Williamsburg, Iowa, by way of Iowa Western Community College, Wetjen has gone from under-the-radar recruit to one of the most electric return men in the country - and now, a back-to-back winner of the conference’s top return honor.
This marks the second straight year Wetjen has taken home the award, making him the first player in Big Ten history to repeat as Return Specialist of the Year. He also claimed the 2024 Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist Award, named after two legends of the return game - Nebraska’s Johnny Rodgers and Iowa’s own Tim Dwight. And here’s the kicker: Wetjen didn’t just live up to the legacy of those names - he surpassed them.
Let’s talk numbers. Wetjen’s punt return stats this season were off the charts: 19 returns, 538 yards, and three touchdowns.
That’s a staggering 28.3 yards per return - a full five yards better than the next-best returner, Texas’ Ryan Niblett, on the same number of attempts. Wetjen wasn’t just flipping field position - he was flipping games.
His highlight reel includes a 95-yard score against UMass (which tied a Big Ten record), a 50-yarder against Minnesota, and a 62-yard return to the house against Michigan State. And it wasn’t just the touchdowns.
A late 40-yard return against Michigan State, with under three minutes to go, helped seal a crucial win. You could make a strong case that Wetjen was Iowa’s MVP this season - and not just on special teams.
He also led the Big Ten in kickoff return average, posting a 30.5-yard clip. That included a 100-yard touchdown to open Iowa’s 38-28 win at Rutgers back in September - a tone-setting moment in a key conference matchup.
Wetjen now owns six career return touchdowns, passing Tim Dwight’s Iowa record of five. And yes, Dwight’s been watching.
“He’s been texting me every game,” Wetjen said on the Big Ten Network after the award announcement. “He’s been motivating me and telling me to go break his records.”
Mission accomplished.
This latest honor continues a dominant stretch for Iowa in the return game - the Hawkeyes have now claimed the Big Ten’s top return specialist in four of the last five seasons, with Charlie Jones (2021), Cooper DeJean (2023), and Wetjen (2024, 2025) all earning the title.
Defense Shines Without the Accolades
While Wetjen’s name was front and center, the Big Ten also released its defensive honors on Dec. 3 - and for the first time since 2014, Iowa didn’t place a single player on the all-conference first team defense.
That might raise some eyebrows, especially considering the Hawkeyes finished the regular season ranked eighth nationally in total defense (270.6 yards allowed per game) and ninth in scoring defense (15.2 points per game). But the lack of first-team recognition says more about the changing landscape of the Big Ten and the nature of this year’s Iowa defense than it does about individual performance.
With the conference now expanded to 18 teams, the competition for all-conference spots is steeper than ever. And unlike recent years, where Iowa had standout stars like Jack Campbell, Cooper DeJean, or Jay Higgins, this year’s group was more of a collective - a no-star defense built on discipline, depth, and execution.
That said, a few Hawkeyes still earned well-deserved recognition. Defensive tackle Aaron Graves, who anchored the line and finished with five sacks, was named to the second team by both coaches and media. Defensive back Zach Lutmer, who led the team with three interceptions, also landed on the coaches’ second team and the media’s third team.
Cornerback TJ Hall earned third-team honors from both groups, and safety Xavier Nwankpa was a third-teamer as voted by the coaches.
So while the first-team nods didn’t come this time around, the Hawkeye defense still made its mark - just in a more understated, team-first kind of way. And with the offense continuing to find its footing, Iowa’s ability to control games through field position and defensive consistency has been a major reason why they’ve remained competitive in a deeper-than-ever Big Ten.
But today belongs to Kaden Wetjen - the walk-on turned record-breaker, the return man who’s making history one sprint down the sideline at a time.