Senior Kaden Wetjen was honored on Tuesday as one of the nation’s premier return specialists.
Wetjen was named a finalist for the Jet Award, which is presented to the nation’s most outstanding return specialist in college football. The announcement was made on Tuesday by the Jet Award Foundation.
Wetjen joins Keelan Marion of BYU and Kam Shanks of UAB.
The 5-foot-10, 196 pound senior leads the nation in combined kick return yards with 807. Wetjen ranks third in the FBS in punt return yards with 287 and seventh in kickoff return yards with 520.
Wetjen tallied 100-plus return yards in three straight games during Iowa’s stretch against Washington, Michigan State and Northwestern.
After registering an 85-yard punt return touchdown in the Hawkeyes’ 40-14 win over Northwestern, Wetjen was recognized as the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week.
Wetjen finished that contest with four punt returns for 111 yards and the one score and three kickoff returns for 65 yards.
“He’s got a good energy, too. That’s never been an issue with him. Consistency has been an issue, and not in a bad way, but he goes. He goes and he sometimes is a ready, fire, aim guy.
“I don’t mind telling you going into the season I was a little worried about him, judgment, fielding balls. I’ll say that. I’ll admit it now. But he’s certainly earned my trust. He’s doing a really good job back there.
“I’ll say this, too. People don’t realize how hard a job that is. I think that’s one of the hardest jobs on the football field maybe outside of playing quarterback is obviously really tough and challenging. But making good judgments back there and keeping the ball from hitting the ground, all those kinds of things, just start there. If you just field balls clean, you’re ahead of the game typically in the punt return game, and then he’s doing that plus I think I said he’s trying to get somewhere every time. He’s got the ball, he wants to score.
“His teammates did a really nice job, too, but to have a good returner who’s got an aggressive attitude like that, that’s a big part of being successful, so I can’t say enough about what he’s playing right now, and I think he’s having a lot of fun doing it, too, which is neat to see,” Ferentz said of Wetjen’s impact following the Hawkeyes win over Northwestern.
A native of Williamsburg, Iowa, Wetjen joined the Hawkeyes by way of Iowa Western Community College.
The Jet Award is named in honor of Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Famer Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers. The winner of the 2024 Jet Award will be selected by a panel of voters, including media members from the Football Writers Association of America, former recipients of the Jet Award, and two of our founders, Johnny Rodgers and William Reed.
Iowa returns to action in its regular season finale on Friday, Nov. 29 with a rivalry date against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT with the game televised on NBC.
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