For most rookies, taking part in the Pittsburgh Steelers versus Baltimore Ravens rivalry is a rite of passage. A game that might require warming up to. When Pittsburgh’s Kaden Wetjen and Baltimore’s Ryan Eckley stare across from each other this fall, it’ll be picking up where their own battles left off.
It’s November, shortly before Thanksgiving. Iowa enters as clear favorites over a scuffling Michigan State team in a Big Ten matchup. But like the Steelers and Ravens, throw records out the window. This one was a fight. Iowa emerged on top, rallying from being down 17-7 entering the fourth quarter to win by three at the buzzer.
Call it a team effort. But Wetjen played a major role.
Eckley came into the game as one of college football’s top punters. A massive leg that produced a great gross average, he led the Big Ten in the stat for 2024 and 2025. In the latter, he led the entire NCAA in average.
But with big kicks come the chance for big returns. In the chess game of punter versus returner, Wetjen won this round.
He got the party started. Scoreless late in the first quarter, Eckley punted from deep in his own territory. Wetjen came under the ball, split the first two defenders, and tore upfield. Weaving around traffic, Eckley was among the last line of defense. Wetjen juked back inside, made one final Spartan miss, and took it back 62 yards to the house.
It was one of three punt return scores Wetjen had on the season. Iowa won all three games. He finished the year averaging 26.8 yards per punt return, the NCAA’s highest average since UCLA RB Maurice Jones-Drew in 2005, the only player to best Wetjen’s figure since 1976.
Earlier in the game, Wetjen bested Eckley again. His booming punt backed Wetjen up inside his 10, but he fielded it and sprinted up the left sideline. He nearly ran it back but ran out of real estate. To his credit, Eckley made the tackle.
Come the draft, Pittsburgh drafted Wetjen in the fourth round. Baltimore snagged Eckley in the sixth. Odds are good both will make their respective rosters, and see each other for the two Steelers-Ravens matchups whenever the NFL announces them in a few days.
Wetjen will try to keep his winning streak going. Eckley will try to get his revenge. The game within a game. For all the history Pittsburgh and Baltimore provides, and it runs deep, the game could be decided by two rookies doing battle in the NFL the way they did in college.