The time for Gennings Dunker's NFL dream to become a reality is upon us, and the Iowa Hawkeyes offensive lineman is eagerly awaiting his turn to hear his name called during the 2026 NFL Draft.
After spending five years with the Hawkeyes, Dunker is a fan favorite heading into the NFL draft for his standout hair and even better personality, but above all, his dominant offenisve line play that he displayed at Iowa. As he gets ready for the draft, he is partnered with Casey's to host his draft party and talks with Hawkeyes Wire about his future, Iowa's future, and what this program means to him.
As Gennings Dunker awaits his name to be called, find out a bit more about the future NFL talent.
Tristan Wirfs, Tyler Linderbaum, and others. What is it about Iowa linemen going to the NFL with so much success?
Gennings Dunker: It's how Kirk Ferentz runs his program with the standard and the discipline that he sets. When you show up, you are expected to be the same guy every day, have the same energy every day, and not come in looking like you just woke up and give great effort every day.
We do the same stuff every day. Nothing about it is sexy. It's not like we saw something on Twitter and decided to try a new drill. It's the same drills every day, and I think that's what makes a lot of these guys so good.
Why Gennings Dunker? What is an NFL team getting from you, and how is that different from other linemen?
Gennings Dunker: For all of us, not just myself, they are getting reliability, dependability, and availability. Being the same guy every day, showing up and working. I mean, Logan Jones is pretty athletically gifted, and I'm really not as athletically talented as he is, so I can't just get by on talent.
It's doing the right things every day, the same things every day, and doing those as well as you can. It's not crazy. It's nothing sexy or flashy, but it's the way you have to do it.
In true Iowa fashion, Casey's is the pizza of choice during your NFL draft party. What is the go-to Casey's pizza during your draft party?
Gennings Dunker: I mean, it's awesome. My hometown has 2,600 people. We got a Casey's a few years ago. It's a big deal. It's right in the middle of town at the four-way intersection. That was a huge deal to get Casey's. We'd have it once a week. I'd get fired up for that.
At the NFL draft party, we will have the bacon cheeseburger pizza with fries. We're going to have a lot of pizzas. I don't know how many, but it will be a lot. I told my dad to clear out the freezer. We're going to skip breakfast and lunch and just have this.
Iowa's O-line was so-so when you arrived, and now you are a Joe Moore Award winner. What does George Barnett mean?
Gennings Dunker: I wouldn't say he is a large part. I would say he is the whole part. How he is as a man, how he shaped us to be as men, how he shaped us to do things, how he shaped us to practice, how he shaped us to act and think about things, taking us under his wings to teach us different things.
If I had another year of eligiblity, I'd still be there. I'd be practicing tomorrow and playing for him. It was awesome. I'm sure if you talked to anybody who's ever played for him, no matter where it was, I am sure they'd say the same thing.
You know the guys still at Iowa. What can we expect from the O-line in 2026-27? Who are some names we should be on the lookout for?
Gennings Dunker: Definitely the guys that started last year. Trevor Lauck and Kaden Pieper should be pretty good. They won't be too bad. A lot of the guys who were backups last year or second string, I think, could have started at most schools. Those guys are already pretty good and really close-knit.
As an offensive line, we spent a lot of time together. Every Thursday is supper. Every holiday we spend together. In the summer, we go down to the Ozarks together. There are slip and slide parties. The whole nine yards. It's really tight-knit, and everyone's really good friends. A lot of the guys lived in houses together. There's a house where all five guys lived together. It's just a really close-knit group.
You spent five years at Iowa. The Hawkeyes are known for keeping guys there for a while. What about Kirk Ferentz and that program makes it so special to stay?
Gennings Dunker: So, obviously, you see guys leave places to go get more money. In my mind, a lot of other guys at Iowa, there are certain things that money can't buy. Getting the opportunity to play for Coach Ferentz, you can't buy that. The opportunity to play for Coach Barnett, you can't buy that. No amount of money is going to correlate to that feeling or the process of working with them and playing for them.