
Receiver, Iowa, 2020–25
Kaden Wetjen
Lettered 2023–25 (school media guide)
- Number
- No. 21
- Height
- 5′9″
- Weight
- 196 lb
- Class (2025)
- Senior
- Hometown
- Williamsburg, IA
- Born
- Mar 9, 2002
Wikipedia readers: about 5,044 a month over the past year
Kaden Wetjen played receiver at Iowa (2020–25). He was a consensus All‑American in 2025. The Pittsburgh Steelers took Wetjen in round 4, No. 121 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Honors
- 2024, 2025Jet Award
- 2024, 2025Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year
- 2024, 2025First-team All-Big Ten
- 2024National leader in kickoff return yards (727)
- 2025Consensus All‑American
- 2025National leader in punt return average (26.8)
- 2025National leader in punt return yards (563)
All-America: consensus 2025; FWAA 2024
Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.
Season by season, from Wikipedia
| Season | Team | Games | Receiving | Rushing | Kick returns | Punt returns | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | No. | Yds | Avg | TD | No. | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2020 | Iowa Western | 7 | 4 | 144 | 36.0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 4.5 | 0 | 3 | 72 | 24.0 | 0 | 26 | 416 | 16.0 | 2 | |
| 2021 | Iowa Western | 11 | 18 | 304 | 16.9 | 1 | 5 | 60 | 12.0 | 0 | 7 | 129 | 18.4 | 0 | 31 | 459 | 14.8 | 2 | |
| 2022 | Iowa | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Iowa | 14 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 5.0 | 0 | 14 | 335 | 23.9 | 0 | 7 | 63 | 9.0 | 0 | ||||
| 2024 | Iowa | 13 | 1 | 3 | 46 | 15.3 | 0 | 4 | 33 | 8.3 | 0 | 26 | 727 | 28.0 | 1 | 26 | 328 | 12.6 | 1 |
| 2025 | Iowa | 13 | 6 | 20 | 151 | 7.6 | 1 | 15 | 79 | 5.3 | 2 | 16 | 476 | 29.8 | 1 | 21 | 563 | 26.8 | 3 |
| Career | 58 | 7 | 45 | 645 | 4 | 30 | 201 | 2 | 66 | 1,739 | 2 | 111 | 1,829 | 8 | |||||
From the college statistics table in Wetjen’s Wikipedia article (Kaden Wetjen, CC BY-SA), season by season as the article gives them, bowls included where it counts them. Our own records come from box scores, which start in 2004 (tackles in 2016, kickoff returns in 2009).
On the roster
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Per play
| Season | Team | Plays | EPA/play | Pctile | Median | Total | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Iowa | 4 | -0.15 | – | – | -0.6 | – |
| 2024 | Iowa | 8 | 0.61 | – | – | 4.9 | – |
| 2025 | Iowa | 42 | 0.08 | 6th (n=1040) | 0.46 | 3.4 | 5% |
Expected points added: how much the player’s plays moved the team’s expected score, per play and in total. Plays: total EPA divided by EPA per play, the plays the source credits to him (for a receiver roughly his catches and runs, not every target; for a passer, not every attempt), so it can differ from attempts plus carries. Percentile: against the position’s regulars that season across all divisions on file (quarterbacks with 150+ plays, backs 60+, receivers and tight ends 30+), with how many there were (n) and their median; a dash means too few plays to rank. A season in progress uses the full-season bar scaled by games played, never below 75 plays for quarterbacks, 30 for backs and 20 for receivers. The cohort grows or shrinks with the source’s coverage each season (2025 lists far more players), so compare percentiles rather than raw EPA across years. FCS seasons are marked. Usage: the share of the team’s plays the player was part of (shown from 20 plays). From CollegeFootballData, 2013 on.
Game by game
2025 Iowa 13 games, 20 catches, 151 yards, 1 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Rec | Rec yds | Rec TD | KR | Yds | PR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30 | vs. | W 34–7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| Sep 6 | at | L 13–16 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 55 | 1 |
| Sep 13 | vs. | W 47–7 | – | – | – | 1 | 34 | 4 |
| Sep 19 | at | W 38–28 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 124 | 1 |
| Sep 27 | vs. | L 15–20 | 4 | 29 | 0 | – | – | 1 |
| Oct 11 | at | W 37–0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 3 |
| Oct 18 | vs. | W 25–24 | 2 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 1 |
| Oct 25 | vs. | W 41–3 | 3 | 49 | 0 | – | – | 4 |
| Nov 8 | vs. | L 16–18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 21 | – |
| Nov 15 | at | L 21–26 | 3 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 55 | – |
| Nov 22 | vs. | W 20–17 | – | – | – | 1 | 18 | 3 |
| Nov 28 | at | W 40–16 | – | – | – | 2 | 71 | – |
| Dec 31 ✦ | vs. | W 34–27 | – | – | – | 2 | 49 | 2 |
2024 Iowa 13 games, 52 returns, 1,055 yards
| Date | Opponent | Result | Rec | Rec yds | Rec TD | KR | Yds | PR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31 | vs. | W 40–0 | – | – | – | – | – | 5 |
| Sep 7 | vs. | L 19–20 | – | – | – | 2 | 55 | 3 |
| Sep 14 | vs. | W 38–21 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 2 |
| Sep 21 | at | W 31–14 | – | – | – | 1 | 23 | 3 |
| Oct 5 | at | L 7–35 | – | – | – | 1 | 19 | 1 |
| Oct 12 | vs. | W 40–16 | – | – | – | 4 | 93 | 1 |
| Oct 19 | at | L 20–32 | – | – | – | 5 | 145 | – |
| Oct 26 | vs. | W 40–14 | – | – | – | 3 | 65 | 4 |
| Nov 2 | vs. | W 42–10 | – | – | – | 1 | 23 | 1 |
| Nov 8 | at | L 17–20 | – | – | – | 1 | 25 | 1 |
| Nov 23 | at | W 29–13 | – | – | – | 2 | 40 | 3 |
| Nov 29 | vs. | W 13–10 | – | – | – | 2 | 56 | 1 |
| Dec 30 ✦ | vs. | L 24–27 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 151 | 1 |
2023 Iowa 11 games, 21 returns, 398 yards
| Date | Opponent | Result | Rec | Rec yds | Rec TD | KR | Yds | PR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2 | vs. | W 24–14 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Sep 9 | at | W 20–13 | – | – | – | 1 | 15 | – |
| Sep 16 | vs. | W 41–10 | – | – | – | 3 | 88 | – |
| Oct 14 | at | W 15–6 | – | – | – | 2 | 58 | – |
| Oct 21 | vs. | L 10–12 | – | – | – | 1 | 25 | – |
| Nov 4 | vs. | W 10–7 | – | – | – | 1 | 24 | – |
| Nov 11 | vs. | W 22–0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nov 18 | vs. | W 15–13 | – | – | – | 2 | 23 | 2 |
| Nov 24 | at | W 13–10 | – | – | – | 1 | 25 | 2 |
| Dec 2 | vs. | L 0–26 | – | – | – | 2 | 54 | 2 |
| Jan 1 ✦ | vs. | L 0–35 | – | – | – | 1 | 23 | 1 |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2026 |
|---|---|
| Height | 5′9⅜″ |
| Weight | 193 lb |
| Arm length | 29⅝″ |
| Hand size | 8½″ |
| Wingspan | 71⅝″W |
| 40-yard dash | 4.47 s |
| 10-yard split | 1.58 s |
| Vertical jump | 35½″ |
| 3-cone drill | 6.95 s |
| 20-yard shuttle | 4.44 s |
Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the NFL
1 season, 5 games with a stat; latest team: Pittsburgh Steelers.
| Season | Team | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.
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