Kaden Wetjen
Kaden Wetjen
Pittsburgh Steelers rookie fourth-round pick Kaden Wetjen was struggling on special teams in the final preseason game, and pressure and criticism were mounting.
Then, everything changed in the blink of an eye. Wetjen reeled off a 45-yard punt return for a touchdown, breaking a pair of tackles along the way in the 28-27 loss to the Buffalo Bills Thursday night at Highmark Stadium.
Though the punt return for a score came in a loss, the splash play from the two-time Jet Award winner in college showed the Steelers he can do what they drafted him to do, seemingly solidifying his place on the 53-man roster.
After the performance, Wetjen was happy to accomplish a personal goal.
“It felt great. That was kind of the whole goal all preseason, was to get an offensive and special teams touchdown, so kind of last second, but it felt good,” Wetjen said of the punt return for TD, according to video via the Steelers’ website.
In the preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers, Wetjen had some splash plays on offense: a 74-yard catch-and-run and a 5-yard touchdown. But he wasn’t making big plays on special teams. He had a bad fumble against the New York Jets, bobbled a punt return, and had a bad decision bringing a kickoff out of the end zone in the loss.
At first, things were rough against Buffalo, too. Wetjen went backwards on some punt returns and appeared to be trying to do too much with little blocking. It all came together in the fourth quarter, alleviating some frustrations.
“I was a little frustrated because I feel like me personally, I could’ve done better, and the guys have been blocking their butts off,” Wetjen said of the breakthrough. “So, it felt good to kinda give one back to them and show them that we can do stuff in the return game. But yeah, it was frustrating at first, but finally got one.”
Wetjen mostly did it on his own, if we’re being honest.
The rookie Kaden Wetjen maneuvers his way all the way to the end zone!
PITvsBUF on @NFLNetwork
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/gjtNooO9D6
— NFL (@NFL) August 28, 2026
He initially broke one tackle on the touchdown before reversing field and working back to his left. As he did that, he broke a second tackle and was off to the races down the left sideline with just the punter to beat. With 4.47 40-yard speed, there was no chance the punter was catching him.
Getting into the end zone, which he had done many times in college, was thrilling for Wetjen, who closed the preseason on a high note.