Steelers Rookie Kaden Wetjen Reveals His 2 Goals Following Breakout Preseason Finale

The Pittsburgh Steelers spent most of the preseason waiting for their fourth-round return specialist to provide the kind of special-teams explosion that made them draft him in the first place. Kaden Wetjen saved it for his final opportunity. After an August filled with flashes, frustration and a football occasionally behaving like it wanted no part of him, the rookie finally broke loose against the Buffalo Bills.

Wetjen took a punt 45 yards for a touchdown with 11:11 remaining in Thursday night's 28-27 loss, reversing field after Buffalo initially appeared to have him trapped before finding open grass along the sideline. The score pushed Pittsburgh ahead 27-17 and provided the return-game highlight his preseason had been missing. For Wetjen, it completed a very specific August checklist.

The rookie already had his offensive touchdown. During Pittsburgh's preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers, he caught two passes for 79 yards, including a 74-yard catch-and-run, before adding a 5-yard receiving score. The return portion of his résumé had been considerably less exciting, which was unusual considering Pittsburgh selected him 121st overall largely because of what he accomplished on punts and kickoffs at Iowa.

Wetjen's second exhibition against the New York Jets only added more irritation. He nearly lost a fumble on one punt return and later bobbled another opportunity, leading Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman to identify ball security as the most important correction remaining. Pittsburgh's previous ball-security warning made the standard simple: explosive ability is useful, but the football has to survive the ride with him. Buffalo finally gave Wetjen the response he wanted.

During his postgame media availability, Wetjen explained that scoring in both phases had actually been one of his goals for the entire preseason.

“It felt great. That was kind of the whole goal of preseason, was to get an offensive and special teams touchdown. So, kind of last second, but felt good… I was a little frustrated because I feel like me personally, I could have done better and the guys have been blocking their butts off. So, felt good to kind of give one back to them and show them that we can do stuff in the return game. But yeah, it was frustrating at first, but finally got one,” Wetjen said.

The appreciation for his blockers is worth noticing because the touchdown required Wetjen to abandon the obvious path. Buffalo's coverage initially closed the middle, forcing him to reverse direction before bursting around the edge. A returner doing that unsuccessfully usually receives a very different postgame discussion about getting north and taking the available yards.

Head Coach Mike McCarthy admitted afterward that he was urging Wetjen to get vertical before seeing why the rookie bounced the return outside. Once Wetjen found the corner, the pursuit disappeared behind him. McCarthy ultimately praised both the return unit and the rookie for finishing the play despite Buffalo being in good position initially.

That is the version of Wetjen Pittsburgh imagined when it invested a fourth-round selection in a return specialist. His college tape at Iowa was filled with reversals, sudden cuts and enough open-field creativity to make coverage lanes feel more like suggestions. The NFL version had appeared offensively in Green Bay, but the return unit spent two exhibitions waiting for its turn.

The timing could not have been much better. Pittsburgh's preseason is finished, and the organization is now moving toward its 53-man roster. Wetjen entered Buffalo with questions attached after the Jets mistakes and an uneven camp, despite his draft status and explosive potential. A touchdown return is a useful final argument because it demonstrates exactly what separates him from another receiver competing near the bottom of the depth chart.

Official Steelers analysis after the finale described Wetjen as the kind of return weapon capable of regularly changing field position and occasionally putting points on the board himself, while acknowledging the rookie still has to learn where aggression becomes recklessness. That balance will determine whether Thursday becomes the beginning of something or simply one excellent August highlight.

Pittsburgh does not need Wetjen to reverse every punt across the field. Crossman would probably prefer significantly fewer adventures than that. The rookie has to develop the judgment to recognize when the big return exists and when 8 safe yards are preferable to spending several seconds auditioning for a maze.

Steelers Finally Saw The Returner They Drafted

Wetjen's preseason was almost split into two separate auditions. As a receiver, he supplied immediate excitement against Green Bay. As a return specialist, the role Pittsburgh actually drafted him to handle, his breakthrough waited until the final quarter of the final exhibition.

The frustration he described makes the touchdown more encouraging. Wetjen knew the blocking had provided opportunities earlier in August and believed he had failed to maximize them. Rather than pointing elsewhere, he put the disappointing results on himself and wanted to reward a unit that continued doing the unglamorous work in front of him.

One punt return does not erase the ball-security concern Crossman raised after New York. Wetjen still has to protect possession, make cleaner decisions and prove his appetite for a huge play does not become a weekly invitation for disaster.

What Thursday provided was the other half of the equation. Pittsburgh has now seen the danger when the rookie gets loose with the football and the danger when he gets loose from the football.

Wetjen wanted one offensive touchdown and one special-teams touchdown before August ended. He needed until nearly the last possible moment, but his preseason checklist is officially complete. His blockers finally got their reward, too.

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