Every offseason, a familiar psychological bias takes hold in the NFL. Rookies arrive as unknowns, and fans fill in the blanks with optimism. Before playing a snap, fans see rookies as fast-track solutions to improve the starting lineup. Sometimes that’s the case, like with Zach Frazier, and other times it’s not, like with Kaleb Johnson. One of the latest examples is the assumption that third-round OG Gennings Dunker will become the starting right guard.
According to a nugget of information from spring practices by TribLive’s Chris Adamski, that may not be in the plans.
“So far, Dunker’s been repping at left guard, which is kind of interesting, what the logic behind that is,” Adamski said via the Steelers Standard podcast. “Does that go back to the deference to the veteran holdover? Is that kind of what that 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?”
Troy Fautanu and Mason McCormick have flipped from the right side of the line to the left. So the prevailing assumption is that Gennings Dunker and Max Iheanachor will eventually take over on the right side. At least right now, the right guard competition doesn’t appear to include the rookie.
That leaves Spencer Anderson, who has 11 starts over the last two seasons, and free agent signing Brock Hoffman, who played center and guard for Mike McCarthy’s Dallas Cowboys in the past. If Pittsburgh wanted to fast-track Dunker into right guard, they wouldn’t be playing him mostly at left guard throughout the spring.
It’s easy to get carried away with assumptions at OTAs when the pads aren’t on. Especially for the offensive line, the spring doesn’t mean a ton. But if Fautanu and McCormick have permanently moved, why wouldn’t the rest of the OL configuration follow suit?
Like Zach Frazier or Mason McCormick’s introduction into the starting lineup, all it takes is an injury to get an opportunity and seize control of the starting job.
Dunker could very well find himself as the starter at some point this season. But as of now, it would take plenty for that to happen by Week 1.
