Dominick Puni, OG - Kansas - 3rd Round 2024 NFL Draft

Originally posted by lamontb:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by gored49:
Doesn't make sense to regress this much. He doesn't look nearly as physical as last season. Only difference seems to be the knee injury he suffered early on. Probably still lingering

This.

it doesn't make sense he would drop off this much otherwise.

Well then it's on the staff to sit him down b/c he's playing beyond poorly.

this plus, that false start on that 4th and 1 didn't have anything to do with his injury. So many times during the broadcast you can see Puni in the background knowing he fudged up, its mental at this point too.

Originally posted by DRCHOWDER:

Originally posted by lamontb:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by gored49:
Doesn't make sense to regress this much. He doesn't look nearly as physical as last season. Only difference seems to be the knee injury he suffered early on. Probably still lingering

This.

it doesn't make sense he would drop off this much otherwise.

Well then it's on the staff to sit him down b/c he's playing beyond poorly.

this plus, that false start on that 4th and 1 didn't have anything to do with his injury. So many times during the broadcast you can see Puni in the background knowing he fudged up, its mental at this point too.

Physical injuries can make for more mental mistakes. He could be trying to overcompensate and try to play faster because he isn't as strong with his knee bothering him. Just throwing it out that it is possible

A scant bit of clarification on the nature of Puni's injury, it's the PCL from preseason. Although there are various degrees of injury that can be sustained, it is the same ligament that finished McCaffrey's season last year.

I'm impressed by his toughness. I thought he was done when he went down in the preseason and then in the Saints game.

Has he been playing hurt all year? Also given that he will have two years experience in this system and given his background playing multiple positions in college, could he play center? We could take another top tier guard prospect (we may need 2 anyway) and slide Puni to center. Or his trajectory at RG based on his rookie year too high to bother sliding him over?

Sophomore
Slump

I don't know if it was from the injury he sustained in the preseason that lingered the rest of season or what, but this guy was bad this year.

Originally posted by Heroism:
I don't know if it was from the injury he sustained in the preseason that lingered the rest of season or what, but this guy was bad this year.

Dominick Puni got his lunch money taken pic.twitter.com/il3H12mEuA

— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) January 18, 2026

I don't think it was injury.

He started off awful which maybe had something to do with the injury. By mid season he was playing pretty good though. But then at the end of the season he was playing pretty bad again.

Overall one of the biggest disappointments of the season considering how well he did his rookie year and the expected progression

Ugh, might have been the biggest disappointment even more so than Winters and Mustapha. They're still ok but the 3 of them looked primed to be solid contributors. Puni especially looked like he could be a pro bowler. We'll see how him and Mustapha go into their 3rd season. I have my doubts on Winters he just might be a solid backup

Originally posted by Since07:
Ugh, might have been the biggest disappointment even more so than Winters and Mustapha. They're still ok but the 3 of them looked primed to be solid contributors. Puni especially looked like he could be a pro bowler. We'll see how him and Mustapha go into their 3rd season. I have my doubts on Winters he just might be a solid backup

Agreed. I love how MM and Winters fly around but they just miss so many tackles. Especially Winters. Puni was just bad

Originally posted by lamontb:

Originally posted by Since07:
Ugh, might have been the biggest disappointment even more so than Winters and Mustapha. They're still ok but the 3 of them looked primed to be solid contributors. Puni especially looked like he could be a pro bowler. We'll see how him and Mustapha go into their 3rd season. I have my doubts on Winters he just might be a solid backup

Agreed. I love how MM and Winters fly around but they just miss so many tackles. Especially Winters. Puni was just bad

Yes they all need a huge offseason to bounce back & help the team next year

just another case of a guy who was good first year, but then teams pick his weaknesses apart. time for him to adjust next year. this happens a lot in the league. people call it a sophomore slump but its more of a modern football thing where teams are trying to gain every small edge and look at players weaknesses and look at exploiting all of them

I think he was injured all season long. Or at least not fully healthy. If you come back on a really sore knee it never fully heals. Until the off season. Because you keep putting extreme demands on it. Of the NFL game. He's a really good player and I think he will bounce back. Nothing wrong with Puni other than the injuries and not being at full health. His mistakes are also over blown on this board. He didn't have as good of a year 2 as year 1. But had good moments and games too which get overlooked. It's always the mistake low lights which people point to. I think year 3 he will bounce back. He's a good player.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:
I think he was injured all season long. Or at least not fully healthy. If you come back on a really sore knee it never fully heals. Until the off season. Because you keep putting extreme demands on it. Of the NFL game. He's a really good player and I think he will bounce back. Nothing wrong with Puni other than the injuries and not being at full health. His mistakes are also over blown on this board. He didn't have as good of a year 2 as year 1. But had good moments and games too which get overlooked. It's always the mistake low lights which people point to. I think year 3 he will bounce back. He's a good player.

A good player shows a pittance of consistency. He was pretty bad all year. Right now he's just a guy, lets hope he figures it out.

If you're going to cut Puni slack for his knee injury, then you need to do the same for Pearsall.