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Inside The Hawkeyes

Meet the Five Iowa Hawkeyes Selected on Final Day of NFL Draft

Iowa finished with seven total draft picks after the Hawkeyes had five more players taken on Saturday.
Jared Shlensky|
TJ Hall stands for a photo during Hawkeye football media day in Iowa City, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.
TJ Hall stands for a photo during Hawkeye football media day in Iowa City, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. | Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK

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Iowa Hawkeyes

If there's one trend that remains true about the NFL Draft, it's that NFL franchises love to draft Iowa players on the final day of the draft.

And that remained true once again this year after the Hawkeyes had five more players selected on Saturday, bringing Iowa's total draft pick total to a program-high seven.

Kaden Wetjen

Kaden Wetjen is listed as a wide receiver, but he's at his best as a returner. The only two-time Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist Award Winner and Jet Award Winner, aka, the nation's top returner, was essentially the college version of Devin Hester.

Wetjen finished his career with six total return touchdowns -- four punt return touchdowns and two kick return touchdowns -- and racked up 2,821 total return yards, and is the only player in Iowa football history to score a rushing, receiving, kickoff return, and punt return touchdown.

Wetjen got more involved in the offense as a senior -- 20 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown, and 15 carries for 79 yards and two touchdowns -- but that's not why the Steelers drafted him in the fourth round with the 121st overall pick. They drafted him to return punts and kicks, and over the last two years, no one in college was been better than Wetjen.

Beau Stephens

Iowa might be known as Tight End University, but it's produced its fair share of elite offensive linemen over the years, and the Seattle Seahawks thought so too after taking Beau Stephens in the fifth round with the 148th overall pick.

The First-Team All-American started all 13 games at Iowa this year and 34 games in his career. Stephens is your prototypical Iowa guard who's a beast in run-blocking and has a chance to make an immediate impact for the reigning Super Bowl Champs.

Karson Sharar

Karson Sharar was the second pick of the sixth round and the 183rd overall pick after the Arizona Cardinals drafted him.

Sharar saw his playing time go up each season before earning the starting job as a senior. The linebacker led the Hawkeyes with 83 tackles and 12 tackles for loss. Sharar also recorded four sacks, forced a fumble, and broke up a pass.

Sharar can play both inside and outside linebacker and is a flat-out gamer.

TJ Hall

TJ Hall was the first of Iowa's two seventh round selections after the New Orleans Saints took him with the third pick of the final round and 219th overall selection.

Hall started 18 games in his Iowa career and led the Hawkeyes with 10 pass breakups this past year. Hall can play multiple positions in the defensive backfield and can play both outside cornerback and slot corner.

Max Llewellyn

Max Llewellyn was the last of Iowa's seven draft picks after the Miami Dolphins selected him with 238rd overall pick.

Llewellyn started all 13 games for Iowa and was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection after recording 26 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, a team-high eight quarterback pressures, five pass breakups, and two forced fumbles.

Llewellyn is at his best when he's rushing the passer and can potentially play both outside linebacker or defensive end in the NFL.

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Jared Shlensky
JARED SHLENSKY

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