Steelers Make Surprising Offensive Line Decision That Is Unfortunate News For Rookie Gennings Dunker

Death, taxes, and the Pittsburgh Steelers investing in the offensive line with Omar Khan and Andy Weidl in charge of the front office. These are the things that fans in the Steel City are certain of, as the organization once again added to the trenches during the 2026 NFL Draft. Max Iheanachor and Gennings Dunker joined a room that was already relatively crowded, and now the two rookies will have to force their respective ways into the starting lineup. Training camp will be an extremely important time for the duo to prove that they have what it takes to play as first-year contributors.

Due to the mystery that is Broderick Jones' neck injury, the team made a decision to move Troy Fautanu over to the left tackle spot for the Organized Team Activities (OTAs) and mandatory minicamp. In what appeared to be a package deal, Mason McCormick also shifted over and was seen getting most of the reps at left guard. This left the right side in a very interesting spot.

It appears as if Dunker would have an easy route to the starting job as long as he could outperform Spencer Anderson throughout the course of the summer. That doesn't appear to be the case, however. Head Coach Mike McCarthy and offensive line leader James Campen could have different plans moving forward according to a recent report.

On an episode of the Steelers Standard podcast, beat writer Chris Adamski noted something that should get the attention of the fan base. During the course of offseason activities to this point, Dunker was actually pretty much only working in at left guard. With that spot undoubtedly McCormick's, the Steelers might already be planning on the rookie being a backup.

"So far, Dunker's been repping at left guard, which is kind of interesting, what the logic behind that is," Adamski said. "Does that go back to the deference to the veteran holdover? Is that kind of what was, or is that a sign of where the depth chart does stack at this moment in terms of where they're going at right guard."

Not a lot of information is released following May and June practices because the access for the media is very limited. This is a fascinating tidbit from Adamski because Pittsburgh might already be heavily favoring Anderson as the starting right guard. Training camp will provide a lot more clarity on the subject; however, it's hard to ignore the fact that one Steelers rookie could be slotted in as a second-stringer right off the bat.

Iheanachor is going to get some opportunities to beat out Dylan Cook on the right side at tackle, but the Steelers' staff could really want to ease Dunker in at the professional level. He has a bunch of traits that the people of Pittsburgh love, but, for now, he seems to be a guy who will be second on the depth chart and only get a chance if McCormick suffers an injury.

A lot can still change with over two months to go until the regular season, as Adamski was simply reporting what he saw during recent workouts. It's possible that the Steelers wanted to see what Dunker had on the left side because McCormick might be better suited to play on the right. However, Fautanu and McCormick work extremely well together and it wouldn't make sense to split them up.

Steelers Are Very Deep Along The Offensive Line

Depth is not currently an issue for Pittsburgh when it comes to the big men up front. Adding two more rookies to the mix only enhanced the fact that the decision-makers in the front office truly care about having as many formidable guys as possible at the position. How it all will shake out is a different story, though, and Jones making a miraculous recovery could throw everyone for a loop once again.

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