Kaden Wetjen
| No. 21 – Iowa Hawkeyes | |
|---|---|
| Positions | Wide receiver Return specialist |
| Class |  |
| Personal information | |
| Born | March 9, 2002 Iowa City, Iowa |
| Listed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) |
| Listed weight | 196 lb (89 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Williamsburg (IA) (Williamsburg, Iowa) |
| College |
|
| Awards and highlights | |
| |
| Stats at ESPN | |
Kaden Wetjen (born March 9, 2002) is an American college football wide receiver and return specialist and for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Early life
In high school, at Williamsburg Iowa High School, Wetjen ran track and was a three-year football letterman as a running back, wide receiver and defensive back.[1][2] As a senior, he scored 31 touchdowns and had six interceptions on defense.[3] He also earned first-team all-state honors.[4]
College career
After graduating from high school, Wetjen attended Iowa Western Community College where he continued to play football as a wide receiver.[5] After two seasons at Iowa Western, Wetjen entered the transfer portal. He eventually opted to walk-on at Iowa over offers at several smaller schools.[6]
After the 2024 season, Wetjen was named the winner of the Jet Award as the nation's top return specialist.[7] He was recognized after leading the FBS in kickoff return yards and coming second in punt return yards, including a 100 yard kickoff return touchdown and an 85 yard punt return touchdown.[8]
In 2025, during his final season at Iowa, Wetjen had one kickoff return for a touchdown and three punt return touchdowns to break Tim Dwight's school record for return touchdowns in a career (6). He was named Big Ten Special Team Player of the Week three times.[9][10][11] After the regular season, Wetjen was named First-team All-Big Ten and Rodgers–Dwight Return Specialist of the Year for the second time. He also earned Consensus First-team All-American honors.[12]
Statistics
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led NCAA Division I FBS | |
| Led Big Ten Conference | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | Rushing | Kick returns | Punt returns | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Ret | Yds | Avg | TD | Ret | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2020–21 | 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 | Redshirt
| |||||||||||||||
| 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 |
| NJCAA career | 18 | - | 22 | 448 | 20.4 | 3 | 7 | 69 | 9.9 | 0 | 10 | 201 | 20.1 | 0 | 57 | 875 | 15.4 | 4 | |
| FBS career | 40 | 7 | 23 | 197 | 8.6 | 1 | 23 | 132 | 5.7 | 2 | 56 | 1,538 | 27.5 | 2 | 54 | 954 | 17.7 | 4 | |
References
- ^ Becker, Dana (2024-12-30). "Williamsburg standout Kaden Wetjen makes impact for Iowa in Music City Bowl". High School On SI. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
- ^ Visser, Ben (May 18, 2019). "Iowa 2A boys' state track: Williamsburg wins another relay, takes second overall". www.thegazette.com. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
- ^ "Kaden Wetjen - Football 2024-25". Iowa Hawkeyes Athletics - Official Athletics Website. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
- ^ Pilcher, K.J. (2019-11-26). "Iowa all-state football 2019: Western Dubuque's Calvin Harris named Class 3A captain". www.thegazette.com. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
- ^ "Kaden Wetjen". Iowa Western Reivers. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
- ^ "Kaden Wetjen Recruit Interests". 247sports.com. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
- ^ Underwood, Jordan (2025-04-17). "Iowa speedster Kaden Wetjen adds the Jet Award to his trophy case". Dear Old Gold. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
- ^ "Wetjen Named Jet Award Finalist". Iowa Hawkeyes Athletics - Official Athletics Website. Retrieved 2025-05-31.
- ^ "Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Oregon Earn Weekly Football Honors". Big Ten Conference. September 15, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ^ "Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan and Washington Earn Weekly Football Honors". Big Ten Conference. September 22, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ^ "Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin Earn Weekly Football Honors". Big Ten Conference. November 24, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ^ "Kaden Wetjen joins Iowa football fraternity of Consensus All-Americans". Yahoo Sports. December 19, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.