Iowa Hawkeyes' Unheralded Star Finally Earns Massive Recognition

This unheralded Iowa Hawkeyes star has earned himself some major recognition heading into the 2025 college football season.

Oct 6, 2018; Minneapolis, MN, USA; A general view of the Iowa Hawkeyes helmets before a game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Last year's Iowa Hawkeyes were not exactly an exciting group, with their only exhilarating player being running back Kaleb Johnson, who was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL Draft.

Otherwise, let's be honest: Iowa was pretty boring. The Hawkeyes didn't really have any big names, and they employed a brand of tedious smashmouth football that would have even made previous iterations of Kirk Ferentz-led clubs blush.

But that doesn't mean Iowa was completely bereft of talent, and perhaps Johnson's tremendous 2024 campaign was not just directly a result of his brilliance (although he certainly deserves a whole lot of credit for leading the Big Ten in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns).

No; the Hawkeyes also had a terrific offensive line, and perhaps there was no player more important to the unit than tackle Gennings Dunker.

In fact, Dunker is viewed as one of the best offensive tackles in the country heading into 2025, and Pro Football Focus has him graded as the nation's second-highest ranking returning tackle for next season.

Highest Graded Returning Offensive Tackles for the 2025 Season💪 pic.twitter.com/ASSWTc8m8G
— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 20, 2025

Not only that, but Pro Football Focus also showed love to Dunker earlier this month, naming him among 10 offensive linemen to watch going into the 2026 NFL Draft.

The 6-foot-5, 315-pound tackle is preparing for his senior season and could very well be a hot commodity among NFL teams searching for help in the trenches.

Iowa is mostly known as a tight end factory, but it has also placed a bunch of very impressive offensive linemen onto the NFL level. Dunker could be next in line.

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