{"id":884682,"date":"2026-05-07T07:39:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T07:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/884682\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T07:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T07:39:44","slug":"no-way-gennings-dunker-was-pretty-fired-up-when-he-realized-steelers-were-drafting-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/884682\/","title":{"rendered":"‘No Way’: Gennings Dunker Was ‘Pretty Fired Up’ When He Realized Steelers Were Drafting Him"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers added several players in free agency this year, but they also lost some pieces, too. That includes Isaac Seumalo, who\u2019s been a consistent veteran piece for their offensive line. Spencer Anderson was an option on their roster to replace Seumalo, and they signed Brock Hoffman to compete for that spot as well. However, rookie Gennings Dunker could also be in play to be the<\/a> Steelers\u2019 starting left guard. While he\u2019s only joined them recently, he felt like he belonged as soon as he received the draft-day call from them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI honestly wasn\u2019t sure who was gonna draft me, just because I can play so many positions,\u201d Dunker said recently on USA TODAY Sports\u2019 YouTube channel.<\/a> \u201cI was pretty fired up when I saw the caller ID on the phone pop up Pittsburgh Steelers. I was like, \u2018No way\u2026\u2019 I couldn\u2019t think of a better culture fit for me personally, coming from Iowa to going to the Steelers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunker looks like he belongs with the Steelers. Their organization is associated with grit and toughness. Few players look as tough as Dunker, and his play style is just as physical. He\u2019s a people mover, and his talents should be on display in the run game.<\/p>\n

However, it might take some time for Dunker to crack the starting lineup. He\u2019ll primarily be a guard with the Steelers, but he mainly played tackle in college. Dunker logged 2,209 snaps in college,<\/a> with 2,029 of those coming at right tackle.<\/p>\n

He also posted 125 snaps at right guard and 55 at left guard. Therefore, he\u2019s got some experience playing inside, even if it\u2019s not much. Still, the NFL is a different level, so Dunker could need time to adjust.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see how long it takes Dunker to get on the field. Anderson and Hoffman have both started before, so it wouldn\u2019t be shocking if either of them beats the rookie out to start 2026. However, Dunker could be the Steelers\u2019 long-term answer at left guard. They\u2019ve worked hard to rebuild their offensive line recently. If Dunker pans out, then that group could be one of Pittsburgh\u2019s greatest strengths for years to come.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers added several players in free agency this year, but they also lost some pieces, too.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":874172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,34761,6,520,57,2360,426,119373],"class_list":["post-884682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-football","tag-gennings-dunker","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-pittsburghsteelers","tag-steelers","tag-usa-sports-today"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116532160972824372","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}