Any great NFL team starts with a great quarterback and an exceptional offensive line. Good coaches and GMs realize that the offense will only go as far as the offensive line will take them. Can’t run block? No running game. Poor protection on passing downs? Drives stall, incompletions rise, and interceptions and sacks become the norm.
Offensive guard is a critical position. The run game must get going up the middle, or else the defense can box out the corners and play five defensive backs, which takes
away the short and intermediate throws.
The franchise needs some young blood at the guard position who can start if needed this upcoming season. It is still iffy if LG Joel Bitonio will retire, and so far, the team hasn’t extended RG Wyatt Teller. OG Zak Zinter was drafted to replace one of these veterans, but he hasn’t panned out and gets lower on the depth chart each season. So, the need is there.
Guard Gennings Dunker of Iowa is a very large man who dominates inside. He looks like a lumberjack with sawed-off legs, long flowing red hair, and a beard. Great guy and well-spoken, but on the field, this is one nasty dude.
Lots of offensive linemen with plenty of accolades here at the Senior Bowl this week, but Dunker is the one guy defenders can’t crack. Excellent defensive line class right here in Mobile, Alabama, and not one has been able to get past Dunker. Not in the 1-on-1s, 7-on-7 drills, or with full pads going 11-out.
And Dunker comes from a school known for spitting out offensive linemen in Iowa.
A lot of offensive linemen are fat guys with huge thighs, arms, and bellies. Not Dunker. He looks like he just got off a logging truck, and it’s break time. But make no mistake, this is a very intelligent guy. He is also a two-time hay bale toss champion. He even has his own t-shirt for sale that reads, “I Cheer for the Hay Bale King.”
Dawgs by Nature staff writer Barry Shuck was at the Senior Bowl this week. He corralled Dunker to get his thoughts on some obvious stuff and some unusual aspects of his past life.
OG/OT Gennings Dunker (6’-5”, 315 pounds)
Iowa
Projection: Round 2
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Shuck: Why is Iowa such an offensive line factory?
Dunker: It’s the culture there. When you get recruited to play at Iowa and are playing offensive line in high school, you know they value the O-Line, and it’s known that you can grow into a really good player there. It’s how the coaching staff operates and coaches us. They push us all the same way.
Shuck: You played most of your college career at right tackle. At the next level, do you see yourself moving out to guard or want to stay where you are?
Dunker: I will do whatever is needed. I played some guard in high school and some at Iowa, so I already know what to expect and what to do. I think of myself as a tackle, and I like that position. I am comfortable. But in the NFL, it is known that players have to be versatile, especially along the offensive line. These coaches here at the Senior Bowl have been giving me reps at guard, along with tackle. Guard is different than playing tackle, although the concept of staying square is the same. Guys get injured all the time, and adjustments have to be made. Whatever a team needs, I will do.
Shuck: At the Senior Bowl, they do a lot of 1-on-1 drills with the defensive line. Everyone loves watching these with all the big bodies, and it can show a lot. What are your thoughts on these drills?
Dunker: I think they’re kind of fun! It’s fun to match up with these [defensive linemen] in the practices. I mean, I like all of them. If you lose a rep, screw it. Just gotta let it rip.
Shuck: You were the hay bale-throwing champion. Where is this event?
Dunker: It’s an annual competition at the Solon Beef Days event. A lot of football players get into the action, and it’s a lot of fun. They have been doing this for like two decades. You take a bale of hay, and throw it straight up over a crossbar as pole vaulters do. The D-linemen always think they are going to win this thing. The hay bales weigh about 50-60 pounds, and you just grab it and heave it over the crossbar. I cleared 14 feet and got a trophy. I just grabbed it and ripped it. I won this event the year before with a toss of 12 feet, six inches.
Shuck: What’s the story of you being known as a duck herder?
Dunker: It was a senior prank. So, I got the idea that I would bring in some ducks to my high school, so I got a bunch of them and put them in the back of my truck. Then drove to the school and let them loose.
Shuck: How has your learning curve accelerated on the field?
Dunker: The first time I got into a college game was like the deer in headlights, but I started to get more confidence and got the hang of it towards the end of my junior year. college career. In my senior year, I played every game at right tackle and made First Team All-Big 10. My play just unfolded in front of me.
Shuck: What is the biggest thing you are working on with your game?
Dunker: I am working on getting a clearer pre-snap plan, so I’m just working on going down my checklist before every snap, like snap count play, where’s the line I’m setting, and that kind of stuff. These defensive ends are fast and strong and definitely more difficult to block. I’m not as fast as them so I am working to build more strength, so it’s more about body placement.
Shuck: What is your diet like?
Dunker: At Iowa, before practices, I would eat Culver’s sandwiches, which have about 700 calories. I would get a PDF every week from the dietician of specific ounces of food I’m supposed to intake each week and different hydration packages I’m supposed to have. It’s their plan for me. If I worked out, it would be a Core 26 protein shake. But the Culver’s is mine; I put that in afterwards. I love Culver’s. You have to fuel the body.
Shuck: You were part of an offensive line group that won the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation’s best college offensive line group. What did that distinction mean to you?
Dunker: It’s awesome, especially looking at where we started. I’d never done a pass set until I went to college, and when I was younger, me and the guys who won the Joe Moore this year were not very good. So, we kind of grew up together those four or five years. We had two guys who were first-year starters, our right guard and left tackle, and they did a great job. Getting to see them progress from where they were at the start of summer to the end of this season is wild. They’re not even the same people, and I’m really excited to see them lead and how they play this year.
Shuck: At the Senior Bowl, everything you do is in front of about 900 NFL coaches and scouts. How do you handle that pressure?
Dunker: When run blocking, sometimes I get too excited. Sometimes I need to hit a single, and I’m going for a triple or even a home run. So that’s something I’ve been dialing back on. In pass protection, sometimes my hands are a little wonky. I need to throw in a little sooner or change my hand placement. That’s something I’ve been working on. So you really just don’t want to get beaten inside. Obviously, you want to create some separation, but you just want to do your assignment rather than go for a pancake. The team that gets me will know I like to hit and run.
