Unorthodox Edge Rusher Ready to Make Opponents' 'Quit'

LARAMIE -- Grant Lott received an early, impactful education.

Crouched into position at the left tackle spot, the true freshman was about to tango with a veteran at his craft. Lott a promising prospect from Missouri who is already every bit of 300 pounds, looks the part. The edge rusher across the line of scrimmage, pre-snap, not so much.

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Jack Dunkley, unorthodox in a number of ways, lines up in a four-point stance, an oddity for a defensive end.

Lott has 50 pounds on him, but that didn't matter in Wyoming's first scrimmage of the fall.

Mason Drube snatched the shotgun snap and immediately faded into a three-step drop. His comfortability in the pocket was short-lived. Dunkley blew off the line and into the grasp of Lott. Before the big man could grab hold, the Duquesne transfer put him in the spin cycle, leaving him bewildered and the redshirt freshman quarterback in serious danger.

Drube threw the ball into the east sideline. Offensive line coach Joe Tripodi audibly lit into the rookie. Dunkley slowly made his way back to the defensive huddle.

It's just another day at the office.

"This is a guy who likes to tear s--- up," Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel said in the spring. "He's mentally wired the way that you want. I'm really excited about Jack."

Brian Hendricks, Dunkley's position coach, couldn't agree more.

He wanted to find a "fit" in the NCAA Transfer Portal. Not just an impactful, disruptive player, but a guy who thrives in his new environment. He thinks he found that in Dunkley, a native of the Philadelphia suburbs who spent his first three years of college ball in Pittsburgh.

If that doesn't quite sound right, it's not as far-fetched as you may think.

Dunkley made his way over to Cheyenne Frontier Days in July to take in literally his first rodeo. He's already scoping out prime hunting areas, too. He even has an impressive set of elk horns tattooed around his left kneecap.

If there's one complaint, it's this: Lack of trees and a good cheesesteak.

He'll manage, he added with a toothless smile.

"They just never grew in," Dunkley laughed, his Delaware Valley dialect on full display. Hendricks, by the way, is the one who told him to remove his retainer. "The two front ones grew in on the sides where the gaps are now then I got braces to bring the two front ones together. I was supposed to be getting implants when I was 21 and they quit growing. I just don't have time right now."

Speaking of which, he also went through a procedure this summer that served as a necessary annoyance. A persistent polynomial cyst on his lower back had to be removed. Dunkley said the pain was unbearable and he didn't want it making a comeback at the worst possible time.

He joked that it was like losing a tail.

"You can't get comfortable with it," he added. "Laying down is uncomfortable, standing up -- literally everything's uncomfortable."

Not any longer.

Just ask Lott. And guard Josiah Petaia.

"He makes me a better player, for sure," the 313-pound junior said. "When I was lined up at tackle in the spring, and going against him -- it really did make me better."

That's the subtle way of saying Dunkley dominated. Petaia's acknowledged as much, flashing a wide smile.

Wyoming's defense finished with just 18 sacks last fall in 12 games. Only 6.5 of those came from the defensive end spot, two each from Tyce Westland and Chisolm Ifeanyi. That duo exhausted their eligibility. So did Brayden Wilson, who accounted for 1.5.

That means Esaia Bogar is the only returner with a single quarterback takedown in a Cowboy uniform.

Dunkley, along with Donnie Wingate and Thaddeus Gianaris, all plucked from the open market, will be relied upon to change that narrative.

"They're leaders," Hendricks said, specifically referring to Dunkley and Wingate. "They're grown-ass men in there, and so we have a really great group of mature men in that room."

Dunkley, who was a All-Northeast Conference selection, tallied 34 tackles in 2025. He added 9.5 stops in the backfield and three sacks. In 28 career outings at Duquesne, the 253-pound speedster racked up 14.5 QB takedowns.

Hendricks first laid eyes on Dunkley after he entered the portal following the '24 campaign. The two chatted, but ultimately, he didn't feel comfortable yet leaving his teammates and surroundings in the Steel City.

After wrapping up his junior season, Dunkley said he went to social media in search of coaches who "followed" him. He noticed Hendricks was one of those. Wyoming had already been a thought. Soon, it would become a reality.

The phone rang and an immediate visit to the high plains followed.

"He was playing at a really productive level against really good competition," Hendricks said, bluntly. "His frame, his build is something that fits us well, because in our program, we not only play defensive end, we play linebacker. We're hybrids and we do a little bit of it all.

"I thought he fit that mold, as far as having the length and having the athletic ability."

Dunkley said the level of play -- along with Laramie's famous altitude -- let him know early on his FCS days were over. The conditioning and lifting program is night and day, too, he added.

It appears he adapted quickly.

In that same August scrimmage, Dunkley shucked his would-be blocker and found himself in a live "Oklahoma drill" at the line of scrimmage. Coming at him, with a full head of steam, no less, was running back Markell Holman. All 6 foot, 214 pounds of him.

The two Philly products met in the hole.

Advantage, Dunkley.

"Very physical. Definitely very physical," is how Dunkley assesses his game. "That's like my bread and butter. Really, I'm just going to hit you so hard every single time and, eventually, you're going to quit. That's my mindset going into it."

Sound like a Wyoming Cowboy to you?

Dunkley will get his first opportunity this Saturday when the Pokes travel south to Fort Collins to take on their Border War rival, Colorado State. Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised on USA Network.

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