Welcome to the Steelers Gennings Dunker

Cowher is probably loving this pick!

Caher Paher!

 

Superb pick at the end of the 3rd round.

 

Remember when we picked up Weidl and everyone said "hopefully he can rebuild the trenches like they did in Philly".

Well...that's clearly the goal (although sadly Jones looks like a miss).

I think it's pretty common for OL (and people sometimes pretend the Steelers are the only team that does this), but I think the plan sill be to have him move from RT (where I think he played in college) to LG (where we need a guy).

Unless the idea is for McCormick to move?

Or maybe just keep rolling with Anderson at LG while Dunker learns how to play G?

Probably not reasonable to expect a 3rd round guy (late 3rd round) to come in and grab a starting spot anyway.

 

Awesome pick, they filled the need at guard. I look for Dunker to be a day 1 starter at LG. I think it's been an excellent draft for the Steelers.

 

He's already on the roster lol

https://www.steelers.com/team/players-roster/gennings-dunker/

 

I hope your right.

But of his 38 starts in college, 37 were at RT. One was at RG. None were on the left side.

For some guys, switching sides is easy. For others, impossible.

But competition at our G spots isn't like it's out of this world or anything.

 

Was he a LG in college

 

He'll definitely be a G in the NFL, doesn't matter to me what side he plays on.

 

Good pick. Possibly Great pick. OL is how you build an offense.

 

that luxurious mullet deserves its own roster spot!

 

maybe. but cleveland and baltimore nailed this draft.

 

Whatever

 

The Ravens nail every draft. So?

 

The inevitable result when AI robots take the jobs of all the worlds barbers.

 

Even by starting guard standards, I do have some serious questions about this pick. Power, displacement, anchor and leverage though are not among them. Dunker is one of the strongest and most powerful players in the class; regardless of position. As a Guard, power and strength are pre requisites. What is often forgotten, and Gennings biggest weakness, is overall balance.


Way too often he is either knee bending or waist bending. In the NFL, even power based IDLs can toss you like a ragdoll if your balance is routinely off. Unfortunately for Dunker, his balance is only one of three major issues I have with him. The second major aspect is lack of flexibility. Generally speaking, Offensive Lineman who cannot properly sync their feet, knees and hips are of two issues; one, being a lack of consistency in technique or two a lack of flexibility in the lower body. Dunker is the latter of the two.


Biggest fear, not concern, for me is his lack of overall agility. He isn't able to shuffle his feet quickly enough in his pass sets nor is he able to properly bend his knees when he is in phase of them. Add the fact that he overextends far too often and you have an IOL who is essentially 1/2 of an NFL IOL. While agility is also not talked about often for IOL, it still is a requirement to play the position; doubly so in combo blocks or specific pass sets that require pass offs of opposing defenders to other Lineman.


Now, can he overcome this?! That remains to be seen. If there is hope for him, it is the fact that he does have both good length to go with a rock solid sturdy overall base. He is going to be hell to move in the running game. For a team that wants to emphasize running the football, Dunker is pretty much set there and is a mucb better puller than people give him credit for.


My comparison was a less agile and more stiff Mason McCormick. Mason's improved hand timing from year one to year two isn't talked about enough and that deserves serious recognition. Given how often Mason misfired his punches and whiffed on his hand placement; he stepped it up in a big way year two. Gunning can follow a similar path and can be a fixture on the Offensive Line if he can improve his hand usage.


I will give this selection a C+

 

They both made a couple of seriously questionable picks.

Solid drafts overall, some possible great picks with some subpar ones. Wouldn't call it "nailing" the draft though.

 

Cleveland and Baltimore (especially Baltimore) nail every draft in April, but quite often by November, not so much.

I do like that the Steelers have adopted Baltimore’s process of trying to accumulate picks. Colbert often gave away future picks in-season, trading for veterans to plug roster gaps. You can’t find mid and late round contributors if you don’t have the picks.

 

Steelers crapped their pants and wasted all their 3rd Rd picks. How does a team have three picks in the 3rd round and lose out on Emmanuel Pregnon... while picking up a bust at QB and a much lesser talented guard?! I hope Daylen Everette proves he deserved to be selected in the 3rd round... otherwise the third round will go down as one of the worst in Steeler history.

 

Accumulated picks is only half the equation. You actually have to draft value each round not crap your pants like the Steelers did in round three.

 

Cleveland has a pretty impressive history of drafting QBs too…

 

I like the 2032 version, but let’s bump that look up to 2026 and play without the helmet. What a story, "Eric the Red" finally finding a new home in Pittsburgh after a long exile from Iceland!

 

Great write-up on ESPN about Dunker.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2026/...2026-gennings-dunker-iowa-hawkeyes-viral-star