#21

Kaden Wetjen

Former wide receiver at Iowa. 2025: 20 catches, 151 receiving yards, 1 TD.

WR · Iowa · Sr. · #21

5′9″ · 196 lb · Williamsburg, IA

CFB Index 28 · #444 of 485 WRsHigh confidenceConsensus AADrafted by Pittsburgh — Rd 4, Pick 21, #121 overall

On production he ranks #444 of 485 WRs; on reputation he is a consensus All-American. The gap between those two numbers is the story.

The numbers

151

receiving yards · 2025

20 catches · 1 TD · 7.6 per catch

The play that turned itSwung Iowa from 31% to 76% to win.Penn State at Iowa · 25-24

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at Iowa. 2025: 20 catches, 151 receiving yards, 1 TD.

Drafted round 4 by the Pittsburgh in 2026.
Named All-America (FWAA) in 2025.
Named All-America (Consensus) in 2025.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Moves the chains on third down.

Catch rate: 81st percentile.

The full scouting read

How it ended

Three seasons at Iowa, 197 receiving yards, a Consensus All-American season (2025) — drafted at #121 overall by Pittsburgh.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — stacked 1 td vs UAlbany.UAlbany · W 34-72025

202413 games

All-Big Tenfirst
All-America
Big Ten Rodgers–Dwight Return Specialist of the Yearwinner

202513 games

All-Big Tenfirst
All-America9 selectors
Big Ten Rodgers–Dwight Return Specialist of the Yearwinner

2026

Drafted by Pittsburghround 4, pick 121

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Iowa

2023–2025

NFL

NFL Draft

R4 · #121

Pittsburgh · 2026

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

18 honors · 2 categories

🏆

ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS

Consensus AA (2025)

8 first-team selectors

🥈

ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM

All-Big Ten 1st team (2025)

Coaching lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach

2023–2025

Kirk Ferentz

Iowa

Played his entire career under Kirk Ferentz.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

Pittsburgh2026 NFL rookie season

#121Rd 4 · Pick 21

Pittsburgh2026 NFL rookie season

View college career stats ↓

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Kirk Ferentz — 27-13 over that span.

2023Iowa10-4HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2024Iowa8-5HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2025Iowa9-4HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

28Below cohort / limited sample #444 of 485?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: catch rate (81st percentile). Strength: rush tds (96th percentile). Concern: epa / target (13th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#152 / 798 · 81st pct

76.9%

TD rate#239 / 798 · 70th pct

3.8%

Explosive rate#511 / 798 · 36th pct

7.7%

Yards / catch#695 / 798 · 13th pct

7.8

EPA / target#698 / 798 · 13th pct

0.12

Box-score rates (8)

Rush TDs#7 / 287 · 96th pct

Rush yards#30 / 287 · 90th pct

Fumbles lost#86 / 218 · 36th pct

Receptions#417 / 558 · 24th pct

Rec TDs#373 / 558 · 24th pct

Long catch#490 / 558 · 12th pct

Rec yards#516 / 558 · 8th pct

151

Yards / catch#544 / 558 · 3rd pct

7.6

Season trend

EPA / target— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Catch rate— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Yards / catch— first qualifying season

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

8%2 of his 26 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	1.6	14.9	7.8	0.1
Road6g	1.5	7.8	5.4	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	1.6	8.4	4.9	0.1
Weeks 8+6g	1.5	15.3	9.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Kirk Ferentz

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Consensus All-American

First team on a majority of the recognized selector lists.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

28 · #444 of 485 WRs

One of 41 return threats in 2025. See the others ›

Selector Grid · 2025

AP—

FWAA—

AFCA—

WCFF—

SN—

SI—

Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Iowa	20	151	7.5	1	--
2024	Iowa	3	46	15.3	0	--
2023	Iowa	--	--	--	--	--
Career		23	197	8.6	1	--

Season	Team
2025	Iowa	15	79	476	563	3
2024	Iowa	4	33	727	328	1
2023	Iowa	4	20	335	63	--
Career		23	132	1,538	954	4

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 18 · 2025

W 34–27

at Vanderbilt

3 rush yds (2 car)

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 on the road.

With M. Gronowski — 212 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 79.5 · 54 rush yds (10 car) · 1 TD · R. Dakin — 49 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 51 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 1 · UAlbany · 4&2 · Q2 · EPA +2.85Mark Gronowski pass complete to Kaden Wetjen for 2 yds for a TD (Drew Stevens KICK)
Week 5 · Indiana · 2&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.67Hank Brown pass complete to Kaden Wetjen for 19 yds to the IU 42 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Massachusetts · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.62Kaden Wetjen run for 20 yds for a TD (Drew Stevens KICK)
Week 4 · Rutgers · 3&2 · Q3 · EPA +2.43Mark Gronowski pass complete to Kaden Wetjen for 17 yds to the RUTG 42 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Penn State · 1&8 · Q4 · EPA +2.32Kaden Wetjen run for 8 yds for a TD (Two-Point Conversion failed)
Week 9 · Minnesota · 2&3 · Q1 · EPA +1.93(14:20) Shotgun #11 M.Gronowski pass complete short middle to #21 K.Wetjen caught at Iowa30, for 22 yards to the Minn46 (#4 Z.Bryan), 1ST DOWN
Week 12 · USC · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +1.81(06:16) Shotgun #21 K.Wetjen rush left for 21 yards gain to the IOWA43 (#31 J.Walker), 1ST DOWN
Week 12 · USC · 2&6 · Q3 · EPA +1.73(10:35) Shotgun #11 M.Gronowski pass complete short left to #21 K.Wetjen caught at IOWA27, for 14 yards to the IOWA43 (#24 C.Pierce), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Week 11 · Oregon · 2&8 · Q2 · EPA +1.42(06:56) Shotgun #21 K.Wetjen rush left for 9 yards gain to the OREGON41 (#54 J.Mixon), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Week 8 · Penn State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA -1.39Kaden Wetjen run for a loss of 3 yards to the IOWA 31

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week