Why the Slide?: Gennings Dunker

Why the Slide Series

Gennings Dunker, OT/G, Iowa

Rnk: 59 SR PRP: 8 Ovr: 96. A+

This series was created a number of years ago in response to questions about why certain well-known prospects went unselected in NFL drafts. For these articles, I reach out to sources with NFL teams to find out why their organizations passed on drafting a given player and/or the reasons other teams passed on that prospect. The positive response to “Why Undrafted” and questions from readers about why prospects were drafted lower than the media’s expectations led us to create the parallel series “Why the Slide?” and “Was it a Reach?”

The trio of series is back this year. Feel free to email me requests at [email protected]. I can’t promise to get to all of them, but I will do my best and definitely will respond to the email.

During the lead-up to the 2026 NFL Draft, there was a lot of media buzz about Iowa offensive lineman Gennings Dunker. Dunker got a lot of attention for his haircut, and that overshadowed the fact that he was a good offensive lineman in college. Many thought Dunker would be a second-round pick, but Dunker slid to late in the third round.

Team sources say that Dunker was graded in the portion of the draft where he went off the board, and they did not see a real slide for him. They felt that he was a solid prospect, but was overhyped by the media.

The Pittsburgh Steelers ended Dunker’s slide in the third round, and that was a decent landing spot for him. Pittsburgh could use more young guard talent to emerge as long-term starters, so Dunker will be an immediate factor in competition for playing time. The Steelers have veterans Mason McCormick and Spencer Anderson projected to start, but Dunker could win a starting job during his rookie contract. Moving inside to guard rather than staying at right tackle should also help Dunker see the field sooner in the NFL. Dunker has a good opportunity to start himself towards a productive pro career in Pittsburgh.