After collecting numerous preseason honors before his senior campaign with Iowa football this fall, wide receiver and punt returner Kaden Wetjen has been named to the 2025 Jet Award Watch List, according to the Football Writers Association of America’s release on Friday..
The Jet Award honors the most outstanding return specialist in college football, which the 5-foot-9, 196-pound special teams star won after a stellar junior campaign last season.
In his historic 2024 season with the Hawkeyes, Wetjen’s 1,055 combined kick return yards led the country by a wide margin and finished first in the FBS in kickoff return yards (727) and second in punt return yards (328).
The native of Williamsburg, Iowa, native also recorded two returns for touchdowns in 2024, highlighted by a 100-yard kickoff return against Missouri in the Music City Bowl. The return is tied for the longest in program history, Iowa’s longest bowl game kickoff return (C.J. Jones against USC in the 2003 Orange Bowl), and the Music City Bowl’s longest kickoff return (LSU’s Leonard Fournette in 2014).
In the game, Wetjen had three returns for 151 yards against the Tigers, averaging 50.33 yards per return, which also set an Iowa bowl game record.
Wetjen’s other return for a score was an 85-yard touchdown against Northwestern, which is listed as the seventh-longest in school history. He also became the first Hawkeye since at least 1978 to record 100-plus kickoff return yards in three straight games (Washington, Michigan State, and Northwestern).
As far as the other 15 players named to the award’s watch list, Minnesota’s sophomore Koi Perich is the only other Big Ten representative.
The winner of the 2025 Jet Award will be selected by a distinguished panel of voters, including members of the FWAA, former Jet Award winners, and co-founders Johnny Rodgers and…
Source link : https://hawkeyeswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/hawkeyes/football/2025/08/01/iowa-football-kaden-wetjen-named-jet-award-watch-list/85477317007/
Author :
Publish date : 2025-08-01 20:45:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
