Deadly returner. It’s time we prioritized special teams in the draft
January 24, 2026
Deadly returner. It’s time we prioritized special teams in the draft
27 comments
Why do we need him? We can just throw Josh Jacobs back there. /s
Talk about Exciting Whites! I’m an Iowa fan and Wetjen is so fun to watch. I’d love him on the Pack
The Packers dont care about returns. All they care about is having a good punter and kicker, and even caring about those 2 things they failed at one anyway. We clearly dont see it as important enough to focus on the entire ST procedure which is fucking insane considering just how many times its cost us in big situations.
What’s the point? Any return over a few years is called back on a penalty anyway.
He can do returns for one season, then proclaim he’s cb1 and never do it again.
5’9″. I’m not saying his height makes him incapable of being an NFL WR, but I’m sure scouts are noting his size. Someone might gamble on him in the third or fourth round, and he might be an incredible steal at that point, but he’s a gamble nonetheless.
Pipe dream. Since when have the Packers cared about kick returners? I mean, yes, would love to draft this kid but I don’t see it happening.
Wetjen would probably be ONLY a returner. He’s a 23yr old (24 by the draft) 5’9 WR with less than 200 receiving yards to his name in his college career (after JUCO).
Anything more than a 7th is overpaying.
If he can’t block as a WR, it’s never gonna happen. I don’t see a lot of 5’9 guys blocking in the nfl.
Caullin Lacy has good return ability, and provided more from an offensive standpoint too. I don’t think Wetjen sets himself apart enough from guys who may be more useful as an actual receiver
Probably won’t be drafted but perhaps FA-priority or training camp invite?
Can we draft a Special Teams Coach?
We have much higher needs than returner. As fun as it is to dream about weapons we have plenty of them. We need IOL, DT, and CB desperately without a 1st round pick
I’d be down for this, but I think OL/CB/DL are too high of a priority. Plus a QB to replace Malik when he signs his huge contract with Miami.
The last thing we need to do is prioritize prayers that play 5% of the NFL snaps.
This is stupid.
Better coaches? Sure. A few more back of the roster spots for solid ST players instead of developing unknowns? Sure. A few more practice reps? Sure.
Prioritizing drafting STs players? Terrible idea.
Unless he falls in the seventh or udfa. We have other priorities. Wr is not a priority this year in the draft. They might take a flyer later rounds because Reed and Wicks might be gone after next year. Watson will probably be extended. This guy is small and probably can’t block also which leaves him out of our draft board. The pipe dream is to find either a 6 foot plus receiver that can do returns. The real pipe dream would to find that in a corner who can be cb3/4. Unfortunately we don’t draft corners that can catch the ball. The chance of this guy being drafted by the packers is 0%.
I’m desperate for more people to read and listen to Justis Mosqueda’s breakdowns of the special team priorities in Green Bay.
To summarise, they do not care about kick-off and punt returning (or blocking field goals against). They put effort into punting and kicking, including blocking and coverage for both. Even then, the blocking for kicking was suspect this season until Bisaccia finally got his way after the debacle in Dallas.
Returning will largely be left up to whichever rookie or younger WR they want to try to get development reps for. Wishing for more of that will only lead to disappointment, I’m afraid.
Why does it talk about him being white?
Michael wortham, Montana, is another guy who might have some returning juice. Hoping we change our stance and get a guy who can return
Mr irrelevant incoming
Let’s keep in mind that Cooper DeJean also returned kicks in college while being an ELITE corner and doesn’t play special teams in the NFL now.
This guys’ stats are no where near being on the same level as DeJeans in college so I don’t see him being anything more than an UDFA.
Haha you know who would be the star of training camp if they actually drafted this guy
Welcome to the patriots (or raiders)
Look at special teams around the league. They killed returns with the new rules.
100% – the FO geniuses couldn’t get us DeJean. We NEED a returner like Wetjen. He’s a machine!
Best I can do is spinning a wheel for every return.
It’s such an under appreciated role. If you have someone who can pop 30-40 yards every few returns, that’s huge! That’s the difference of being on their side of the field. Even if you don’t score a TD or FG, you can pin them at deep on their side of the field. I have never understood why we can’t sacrifice that one roster spot similar to a LS.
27 comments
Why do we need him? We can just throw Josh Jacobs back there. /s
Talk about Exciting Whites! I’m an Iowa fan and Wetjen is so fun to watch. I’d love him on the Pack
The Packers dont care about returns. All they care about is having a good punter and kicker, and even caring about those 2 things they failed at one anyway. We clearly dont see it as important enough to focus on the entire ST procedure which is fucking insane considering just how many times its cost us in big situations.
What’s the point? Any return over a few years is called back on a penalty anyway.
He can do returns for one season, then proclaim he’s cb1 and never do it again.
5’9″. I’m not saying his height makes him incapable of being an NFL WR, but I’m sure scouts are noting his size. Someone might gamble on him in the third or fourth round, and he might be an incredible steal at that point, but he’s a gamble nonetheless.
Pipe dream. Since when have the Packers cared about kick returners? I mean, yes, would love to draft this kid but I don’t see it happening.
Wetjen would probably be ONLY a returner. He’s a 23yr old (24 by the draft) 5’9 WR with less than 200 receiving yards to his name in his college career (after JUCO).
Anything more than a 7th is overpaying.
If he can’t block as a WR, it’s never gonna happen. I don’t see a lot of 5’9 guys blocking in the nfl.
Caullin Lacy has good return ability, and provided more from an offensive standpoint too. I don’t think Wetjen sets himself apart enough from guys who may be more useful as an actual receiver
Probably won’t be drafted but perhaps FA-priority or training camp invite?
Can we draft a Special Teams Coach?
We have much higher needs than returner. As fun as it is to dream about weapons we have plenty of them. We need IOL, DT, and CB desperately without a 1st round pick
I’d be down for this, but I think OL/CB/DL are too high of a priority. Plus a QB to replace Malik when he signs his huge contract with Miami.
The last thing we need to do is prioritize prayers that play 5% of the NFL snaps.
This is stupid.
Better coaches? Sure. A few more back of the roster spots for solid ST players instead of developing unknowns? Sure. A few more practice reps? Sure.
Prioritizing drafting STs players? Terrible idea.
Unless he falls in the seventh or udfa. We have other priorities. Wr is not a priority this year in the draft. They might take a flyer later rounds because Reed and Wicks might be gone after next year. Watson will probably be extended. This guy is small and probably can’t block also which leaves him out of our draft board. The pipe dream is to find either a 6 foot plus receiver that can do returns. The real pipe dream would to find that in a corner who can be cb3/4. Unfortunately we don’t draft corners that can catch the ball. The chance of this guy being drafted by the packers is 0%.
I’m desperate for more people to read and listen to Justis Mosqueda’s breakdowns of the special team priorities in Green Bay.
To summarise, they do not care about kick-off and punt returning (or blocking field goals against). They put effort into punting and kicking, including blocking and coverage for both. Even then, the blocking for kicking was suspect this season until Bisaccia finally got his way after the debacle in Dallas.
Returning will largely be left up to whichever rookie or younger WR they want to try to get development reps for. Wishing for more of that will only lead to disappointment, I’m afraid.
Why does it talk about him being white?
Michael wortham, Montana, is another guy who might have some returning juice. Hoping we change our stance and get a guy who can return
Mr irrelevant incoming
Let’s keep in mind that Cooper DeJean also returned kicks in college while being an ELITE corner and doesn’t play special teams in the NFL now.
This guys’ stats are no where near being on the same level as DeJeans in college so I don’t see him being anything more than an UDFA.
Haha you know who would be the star of training camp if they actually drafted this guy
Welcome to the patriots (or raiders)
Look at special teams around the league. They killed returns with the new rules.
100% – the FO geniuses couldn’t get us DeJean. We NEED a returner like Wetjen. He’s a machine!
Best I can do is spinning a wheel for every return.
It’s such an under appreciated role. If you have someone who can pop 30-40 yards every few returns, that’s huge! That’s the difference of being on their side of the field. Even if you don’t score a TD or FG, you can pin them at deep on their side of the field. I have never understood why we can’t sacrifice that one roster spot similar to a LS.