Dominick Puni surprised a lot of people as a rookie last season, starting all 17 games at left guard for the San Francisco 49ers after injuries in training camp opened the opportunity. Few expected the third-round draft pick to make such an immediate impact, but he quickly proved he belonged.
Puni finished 2024 with an impressive 80.5 offensive grade from Pro Football Focus, the second-highest among all 49ers offensive linemen—trailing only future Hall of Famer Trent Williams. His run-blocking grade (81.5) narrowly edged out Williams' mark (81.4) for the team lead.
The question now is: How good can Puni be in Year 2?
NFL.com's Kevin Patra believes the answer could be "Pro Bowl good," naming Puni as the 49ers player most likely to earn his first Pro Bowl nod in 2025.
"From the time the pads slipped on in last year's training camp, Puni seemed like a natural in Kyle Shanahan's system," Patra wrote. "As a rookie, the 6-foot-5 guard was already a top-10 run blocker, able to get to the second level working off of double teams. Shanahan's run-blocking schemes give Puni Pro Bowl potential.
"And his size allows him to hold his own in pass protection, even in one-on-ones. He still has to clean up parts of his game in that area, but the 25-year-old boasts the body and skill to be a top-five guard in 2025."
Puni admits that as a rookie, he wasn't fully prepared for the grind of a 17-game NFL season. Still, he played every one of the 49ers' 1,078 offensive snaps in 2024. When asked if he expects to take a leap in his second year, there was no lack of confidence in his response.
"Yes. Yeah, I think I can be much better," Puni said. "You have a good year, and people see what they see, but if you're pretty hard on yourself, and Coach Foerster (offensive line coach Chris Foerster) is a pretty good coach at being hard on us, you see a lot of what you can clean up, and that's what we did in the offseason.
"There's just so much better that could come out of my play. And so, yeah, there can be a big jump, and I'm ready to take it."
If Puni makes that jump, it could go a long way toward stabilizing a 49ers offensive line that has often been a point of criticism, and potentially set him up for Pro Bowl recognition in just his second NFL season.