Welcome to the Steelers Kayden Wetjen

Show me where I said they can't ever take a player who is projected to a different position. You can't because I said no such thing.

If there was a safety with comparable talent to Louis who actually played the position in college, I would want that player over Louis, too.

In the case of Dunker, I raised that point in comparing him to Pregnon, who is every bit as talented, but isn't a projection. Keep in mind that in a vacuum, I like the selection of Dunker. I cheered the pick on the draft thread. I was very excited that they got him. I just think they could have done better by taking Pregnon instead of Everette. If Everette didn't make it to their last third-rounder, pivot to Scott, who was still there early in the fourth.

 

If Pregnon is as good as you're hyping him up to be he would've been drafted a lot earlier, Rutledge even snuck into the first round he was projected to go in the 2nd or 3rd. Louis is too small for ILB and too slow for safety.

 

I'm not hyping Pregnon up to be anything more than more polished and better than Dunker, so that argument of yours makes little sense.

Louis ran the 40-yard dash in 4.53 seconds at the NFL Combine. By way of comparison, Steelers' starting safety DeShon Elliott ran a 4.58 at the combine. Jaquan Brisker ran a 4.49. Kyle Hamilton, arguably the best safety in the NFL, ran a 4.59 at the combine, then 4.56 at his pro day.

So no, Louis is not too slow to play safety in the NFL. He also showed excellent coverage skills when asked to drop into man-to-man at Pitt.

 

Who ranked them as steals? I've seen mixed reviews at best.

 

And how much safety did Louis play at Pitt? The Steelers had him right next door and didn't have much interest in him, that should tell you what they really think of him.

 

Louis duplicates too many skillsets already on the roster. The Steelers are not lacking in lightweight speedy LBers that can not take on offensive linemen, struggle to work through blocks, and overrun plays. Those are pulled from the first three scouting reports I found by Googling Kyle Louis. They also have like 3 guys on the roster whose best spot may be some sort of hybrid nickel package defender.

I think Louis can have a good impact in the right situation. That situation was not in Pittsburgh.

 

See it's his eyes, or vision that impress me. It looks simple to some, but it's not that simple, he just makes it look that way

 

Aloha, Hawaii! How are you doing you big sexy man, you?

 

Yep

That keen closeup observation worked extremely well with Kenny The Coward Pickett

 

It has been reported that all lineman coming to Iowa start at G before possibly moving elsewhere along the O-line. I think Dunker will acclimate quickly.

I would have chosen Pregnon before Dunker, but would be happy with either.

 

You have no idea how much interest they had in him. For all you know, he was the next guy on their board after Wetjen.

The appropriate response here would have been for you to admit you posted without knowing the facts. You said that Louis is too slow to play safety. He ran a faster time at the combine than Kyle Hamilton, arguably the best safety in the NFL. Clearly, you didnt know what you were talking about.

 

I'm assuming a move to safety, which would fit given his cover skills and size.

 

He may have practiced there, but I believe all of his 38 starts at Iowa came at tackle.

 

Specifically right tackle

 

I see it now. They didn't call these guys steals. They said they were good values or stepped into situations that would allow them to make an immediate impact. That isn't exactly the same thing. (I suspect that you will think that is a semantic debate and you disagree with my take. We will just have to agree to disagree there.)

Look at the bio on Nowakowski. Part of why he is there is the Steelers listing him as their fullback. Opportunity seems to be as important as value in the inclusion of both Steelers on this list.

By the way, Louis is also on the list.

 

Came here to post this article.

The graph that's in there (site doesn't allow image links or text to be copied) is kind of insane. He was just much, much better than anyone in the current class at returns.

I thought the title was misleading though.

From the title, I thought that he would expand the analysis to include other very good NFL returners so we could see what they did in college compared to Wetjen.

That's what I'd like to see next. Because I think it would give a better idea (1) how much college return success matters for predicting NFL return success and (2) does he still look elite when compared to guys who went on to have success doing it in the NFL.

 

That is what I'm wondering about, too, is how well his skills will translate to the pros. He went the wrong way and backward to set up one of those long returns for a touchdown. I could see that backfiring spectacularly in the pros.

 

Not sure where you are seeing this as being considered a "Steal" at #121

AI Overview

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Iowa WR/KR Kaden Wetjen with the No. 121 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, focusing on his elite return ability. While lauded for filling a major special teams need with his 4.47 speed, draft analysts considered it a reach, offering mixed grades ranging from a "luxury" C to a D-minus for perceived low offensive value

 

If he was so capable at wide receiver, why didn't Iowa use him more? Wouldn't a player with the ability to be a playmaker on offense in the pros get more than 23 receptions and 23 carries in three years of college ball? Even in a run-oriented offense, you would still think he would do more.

Also, I didn't realize he ran a 4.47 40 at the combine. That is good speed, but hardly elite.

 

I agree on the impact he can make as a receiver [edited...I meant returner here].

On the terrible podcast Monday, they talked about his receiving results in college. They seem to not be very good. Rarely caught balls at more than 5 air yards. Apparently many were "catchable" per sports info solutions. But I haven't seen all the plays.

Not sure Dave B will do a "contextualization" for Wetjen receiving. But in the past, he's dug out tape from "all" of certain types of plays for drafted players. Most notably finding out that basically all of Najee's long runs in college happened when he didn't get touched for the first 10 yards or so (because his line was all future NFL players and 3/5 1st round picks IIRC).

Hoping MM can scheme something up for him, but I don't expect him to impact the receiving game. Particularly in year 1...especially if AR comes back (which is what I expect).