After spending one season playing football at Iowa Western Community College, Kaden Wetjen transferred to Iowa hoping to make a name for himself. And after three seasons of growth with the Hawkeyes, Wetjen can now find his name under recipients for the Big Ten’s Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year.

Wetjen, a senior from Williamsburg, Iowa, becomes the fourth Hawkeye to claim the prize, joining the likes of Ihmir Smith-Marsette in 2018, Charlie Jones in 2021, and Cooper DeJean in 2023. The award was established in 2015 in honor of Nebraska’s Johnny Rodgers and Iowa’s Tim Dwight.

Before 2024, Wetjen never scored a return touchdown for the Hawkeyes, but notched the long-awaited score with an 85-yard punt-return against Northwestern.

This season, Wetjen collected 576 kick return yards and 312 punt return yards, each of which ranked first in the Big Ten and sixth and second, respectively, in the FBS. He a career-high 25 yards per kick return and 12.5 on punts.

In addition to the award, Wetjen also earned All-Big Ten first-team honors by league coaches and media.