The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Iowa wide receiver and return specialist Kaden Wetjen in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Wetjen addresses the team's needs for wide receiver depth and explosive kick returns. He impressed at Iowa with standout special teams performances.
Pittsburgh aimed to bolster its wide receiver group and return game this offseason. The Steelers drafted Kaden Wetjen from Iowa on May 4, picking him in the fourth round. Wetjen had returned 56 kicks for 1,538 yards and two touchdowns, plus 54 punts for 954 yards and four touchdowns during his Hawkeye tenure. He arrived at Iowa as a walk-on after junior college and earned a scholarship for the 2025 season. Wetjen was not expecting the draft call and received it while on a golf course, according to accounts of the moment. He has been a longtime golfer, hitting balls at a driving range ahead of the 2025 college season. “Yeah, I really have been playing a lot more, though,” Wetjen said in an interview with Iowa’s News Now at Pinseekers. Summers also involved deer hunting preparations. “I go home and I’m planting food plots and just doing a bunch of mowing and work on trails and stuff there,” he added. “I take that pretty seriously. My girlfriend calls me nerdy about that, but I don’t know, I love it.” His high school coach Curt Richie praised Wetjen's hunting success, noting bucks with 15 or 16 points. At Williamsburg High School, Wetjen earned all-state honors in football for three straight years as a wide receiver and defensive back. He intercepted at least six passes each of those seasons and scored 31 touchdowns as a senior while serving as team captain. He also contributed to state champion 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams in track in 2019. Wetjen's size—described by Richie as not fitting the prototype—led him to Iowa Western Community College instead of direct Division I offers. There, he roomed with tight end Frank Bierman, sparking a prank war that evolved into friendship despite becoming Big Ten rivals when Bierman joined Minnesota. Wetjen even dated Bierman's sister Rachel, betting he'd attend their family Christmas.
