After an underwhelming first half of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally made a move that sparked new life into fans late on Friday night. With the clock winding down on Day 2, general manager Omar Khan traded his team's compensatory third-round pick (No. 99 overall) up three spots to the No. 96 pick.
And with the 96th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Iowa offensive lineman Gennings Dunker.
This is a player many football fans were already very familiar with.
Dunker couldn't go unnoticed throughout the pre-draft process. His flowing red locks were first noticed during his standout week at the Panini Senior Bowl, where he held his own in one-on-ones versus some of the best defensive linemen in the nation. From there, Dunker was the talk of the O-line group at the NFL Combine in February.
Dunker caught up with FanSided during Day 1 of NFL Draft festitivies to recall his memorable Combine experience.
"At the combine, you meet all these coaches, and you can prepare as much as you want, but at the end of the day, you're going to end up in the room with an NFL head coach that you grew up watching. So you see 'em, and you're like, holy smokes, this is crazy," Dunker recalled, per FanSided's Adam Weinrib.
But more than his background as a mid-west farm boy, Dunker is a football player, through and through. And this was finally the draft steal Pittsburgh desperately needed.
The Pittsburgh Steelers needed Gennings Dunker after underwhelming early draft selections
The first four picks of the 2026 draft didn't turn out as Steelers fans expected, and it began with a disappointment in Round 1. After the Eagles swooped ahead of the Steelers to poach USC star Makai Lemon one pick before they were on the clock, Pittsburgh pivoted to raw Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor.
From there, Pittsburgh made a desperation move for a positional need when they traded up for Alabama receiver Germie Bernard. Then, one pick later, early in the third round, the Steelers reached to take their quarterback swing, landing Penn State's Drew Allar earlier than anyone expected. This was followed by selecting Georgia cornerback Daylen Everette at pick No. 85.
None of these selections were deemed high value picks. That is, until Dunker came along.
Dunker, the fan-favorite prospect out of Iowa, was the 64th overall player on Marcus Mosher's NFL Draft Expert Consensus Board. Considering the Steelers were selecting at pick No. 96, this was 32 picks higher than his expected on-target value.
Based on his last two seasons at Iowa and his impressive pre-draft showing, an NFL team could have justified taking him as early as the second round.
Dunker was primarily a right tackle in the Big Ten during his time with the Hawkeyes, but with the Steelers, he could kick inside to guard. Pittsburgh has a starting vacancy at left guard after the departure of Isaac Seumalo, and Dunker could compete with veterans Spencer Anderson and newcomer Brock Hoffman for the role.
At the very least, Dunker could be a swing tackle to begin his NFL career and could develop into a starter by his second season. This was a fun pick that fans should have no problem getting behind.
Add us as a preferred source on Google