Kaden Wetjen had a large enough body of work at Iowa to get drafted. But in a reminder of what an all-star game can do, Wetjen’s strong showing at the Shrine Bowl truly put him on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ radar. And made him the team’s fourth-round pick of last month’s draft.
Discussing a selection scrutinized by many, GM Omar Khan shared what got the team seriously interested in Wetjen.
“He’s been primarily a really good returner,” Khan said on Sirius Radio’s Movin’ The Chains with Pat Kirwan and Jacob Hester.” But we saw when you watch his film at the East/West practices and some of the stuff he was doing. He just stood out and kind of got you excited about the possibilities of what he could bring to the offense in certain scenarios.”
Pittsburgh had a similar takeaway on eventual first-round pick OT Max Iheanachor, who shined at the Senior Bowl. While Iheanachor was blocking defenders, Wetjen was making cornerbacks grab at air.
Little-used as a conventional receiver at Iowa, the Shrine Bowl gave Wetjen the chance to run routes and show what he could do on offense, beyond his obvious special teams value.
Below is a compilation of clips of Wetjen winning routes 1v1 and in team drills during the week of practice in Frisco. He shows the ability to set up routes with head fakes and getting up to speed to get on the cornerback’s toes. Vertically, he showed the ability to stack and separate throughout the route.
Iowa Receiver & Returner, Kaden Wetjen once again made his presence felt at the Shrine Bowl!
At this point I'm sure he's got plenty of fans in the NFL with how consistently he's been making separation, showing off the speed and reliably catching the ball! pic.twitter.com/aiebeLADNa
— IanM (@IannmNFL) January 25, 2026
Exiting the Shrine Bowl, our Melanie Friedlander called Wetjen one of her big winners, writing:
“There may not be a player who improved his draft stock more this week. With UConn WR Skyler Bell shutting it down after the first day of practice…He showed an uncanny ability to get open both down the sidelines and in the middle of the field and made contested catches in traffic despite his lack of height. In the Day 3 practice team session, West quarterbacks targeted him constantly.”
For most receivers, burning a couple of corners in drills tailored to the offense wouldn’t mean much. For Wetjen, it was the chance to showcase tape he had little opportunity to put on at Iowa. The Hawkeyes used him as a quick-game space player with an average depth of target of just 3.5 yards last year. Of FBS receivers with at least 30 targets, Wetjen’s number ranked 440th out of 444 qualifiers.
Wetjen’s primarily value to Pittsburgh will mirror his role at Iowa. He must be a potent return man. Failing that makes his offensive production moot. But Pittsburgh thinks there’s more to get out of him than the Hawkeyes did, and the Steelers’ offensive-minded coaching staff has a chance to take Wetjen’s game to another level.
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