Kaden Wetjen is the best return man in the country this year, and one of the best in recent college football memory.
Wetjen’s taken five kicks/punts to the house since becoming the full-time kick returner for Iowa at the beginning of the 2024 season. He has three return touchdowns already this season, with still at least five games remaining on the schedule. He should find his way onto an NFL roster next season, further cementing the Iowa and NFL pipeline that Kirk Ferentz has been building since he arrived.
While it’s important to admire Wetjen and what he’s done as a Hawkeye, it’s also fun to look ahead at the future. With Wetjen and backup returnman Sam Phillips set to graduate after this season, there’s going to be a big hole to fill at that spot next season. Special teams coordinator LeVar Woods has already started to think about that.
Woods spoke at his usual bye week press conference on Tuesday and answered questions about his unit and their play this season. He was also asked about the future of the kick return position, with Wetjen and Phillips set to graduate after this season. His answer should have Hawkeye fans confident that the kick return game will remain strong going forward.
What’s the future hold for the Iowa football kick return position?
When asked about the future of the kick return position, Woods had this to say:
“I think if you know us and you watch us, there’s someone else on this team. There’s someone else out there. KJ Parker is one I’ll throw out. You mentioned Sam. I think McNeil can do this. There’s other guys out there. Zach Lutmer, because we’ve all seen him, right? We all saw his touchdown. It looked like a punt return to me.
So there’s guys on our team right now. I’m sure during recruiting we’ll find someone else that we feel like could do that, so we’ll just continue to develop them and continue to put them in those drills I mentioned before and in those situations trying to test them and put them back there.
Again, same thing with Kaden. Kaden, it took a while for him to get put in there, and really his opportunity came through injury. There’s a couple other guys, I would say Jackson Naeve is a young guy that no one has ever seen or heard of but he continues to do a good job in practice, but we haven’t tested him yet. We haven’t put him out there. We’ll just continue to do that.”
It seems like wide receiver KJ Parker, running back Nathan McNeil, and defensive back Zach Lutmer are all going to be in the mix to return kicks and punts next season. Lutmer profiles very similarly to Cooper DeJean and has shown the ability to score this season, so that could be a fun option to keep an eye on. Parker and McNeil have blazing speed and could easily find a crease to house one.
Naeve will be the name to keep an eye on. The 6-foot, 195-pound sophomore wide receiver joined the Hawkeyes this season after a year at Iowa Western Community College, which is where Wetjen was before coming to Iowa. Naeve returned eight total kicks/punts at Iowa Western, so there’s some built-in experience there. And he’s got a similar frame to Wetjen, who’s 5-foot-9, 196 pounds. Watch out for Naeve to be a breakout performer next season.
Iowa will miss Wetjen immensely next season, but the cupboard isn’t empty. The kick return game should still be strong, even with the best returnman in the country on to the NFL.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football sheds light on kick return future after Kaden Wetjen
Reporting by Zach Hiney, Hawkeyes Wire / Hawkeyes Wire
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