{"id":175989,"date":"2026-04-25T18:15:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T18:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/175989\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T18:15:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T18:15:30","slug":"kaden-wetjen-gives-steelers-elite-return-specialist-on-day-3-of-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/175989\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaden Wetjen gives Steelers elite return specialist on Day 3 of NFL draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> selected Iowa<\/a> wide receiver Kaden Wetjen in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft on Saturday, April 25. Wetjen, a 5-9, 193-pound prospect, began his college career in the junior college ranks before taking a preferred walk-on opportunity at Iowa. He became an electric weapon for the Hawkeyes. While he did appear on offense, his explosiveness was particularly evident on special teams.<\/p>\n

Wetjen is the first two-time Jet Award winner, given to the most outstanding return specialist in college football. Wetjen finished his Iowa career with six combined punt and kick return touchdowns.USA TODAY Sports’ draft analyst Ayrton Ostly called Wetjen “one of the best return specialists in college football history who is an elusive open-field runner.” However, according to Ostly, Wetjen’s “smaller catch radius limits his ceiling as a slot receiver.”<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Steelers Kaden Wetjen selection grade: C+<\/p>\n

This might seem a bit early for Wetjen, but he’s a big play in a bottle. He can flip the field in a hurry as a returner and give an electric element to Pittsburgh and its methodical approach. Still, the price is fairly exorbitant for a player who might not be much of a factor in the pass game beyond some scattered manufactured touches. \u2013 Jacob Camenker, USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

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The 2026 NFL Draft <\/a>Theater stage at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. on April 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

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The 2026 NFL Draft <\/a>Theater stage at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. on April 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

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A general overall view of the downtown skyline and Fort Duquesne bridge of the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Pa. on April 22, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Large helmets of the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals at Acrisure Stadium on April 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

A general overall view of the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium on April 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

Fans watch during the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium on April 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

A general overall view of Acrisure Stadium during the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, Pa. on April 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

A Pittsburgh Steelers fan plays a bagpipe in Market Square during the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, Pa. on April 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers and Terrible Towel banners in Market Square during the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, Pa. on April 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

Local military members watch the Q&A session with ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes and Cam Heyward at the USAA NFL Draft event at the City Winery in the Strip District, Thursday, April 23, 2026 ahead of the first round of the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

A Here We Go sign is featured at Steelers Country at the NFL Draft Fan Experience at Point State Park, Wednesday, April 22, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/p>\n

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Construction crews continue to put the finishing touches on the draft theater Wednesday, April 22, 2026 from outside Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/p>\n

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The NFL Draft Red Carpet at the NFL Draft Fan Experience at Point State Park, Wednesday, April 22, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

A fan takes video of the Q&A session at the USAA NFL Draft event at the City Winery in the Strip District, Thursday, April 23, 2026 ahead of the first round of the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/p>\n

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Pittsburgh Steelers fans pose at a 2026 NFL Draft activation in downtown on April 22, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

A City of Pittsburgh River Rescue boat sails along the Allegheny River near Acrisure Stadium during the 2026 NFL Draft on April 22, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

A general overall view of 2026 NFL Draft banners on the Roberto Clemente aka Sixth Street bridge on April 22, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

A statue of former Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente outside the center field gate of PNC Park on April 22, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

A general overall view of large Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts helmet at the 2026 NFL Draft Experience at Acrisure Stadium on April 22, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

A statue of Pittsburgh Steeles fullback Franco Harris completing the Immaculate Reception at the Pittsburgh International Airport on April 21, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

Street banners promoting the 2026 NFL Draft in downtown on April 21, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

Duval representing in Pittsburgh as Nikki Mcglockton aka Tally Jag, right, and Jerome Johnson, aka Jaxonball Z, gear up for Round 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh on April 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

Bengals Twins Steve, left, and Jeff, prepare for the 2026 NFL Draft on April 23, 2026, in downtown Pittsburgh, where they want their team to draft ‘defense, defense, defense.’<\/p>\n

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Steel City ready for draft night as the NFL comes to Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

Tennessee Titans cheerleaders excited for Round 1 of the NFL Draft on April 23, 2026, in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kaden Wetjen to Steelers: Pittsburgh selects elite return specialist at NFL draft<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Iowa wide receiver Kaden Wetjen in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[78775,6743,78774,54823,73,75,74,1833,78773],"class_list":["post-175989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-ayrton-ostly","tag-college-football","tag-college-ranks","tag-kaden-wetjen","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-wetjen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}