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49ers RG Dominick Puni is the NFL's Highest-Graded Rookie O-Lineman

The 49ers deserve major credit for finding such a terrific player in Round 3.
Grant Cohn|
Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; XSan Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Dominick Puni (77)XXXX after the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
Oct 6, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; XSan Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Dominick Puni (77)XXXX after the game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers hit a home run with their third-round pick this season.

Dominick Puni seems like he will be the 49ers' starting right guard for quite a long time. He's the best offensive lineman the 49ers have drafted since John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan joined the franchise in 2017, and he's the highest-graded rookie offensive lineman in the NFL this season according to Pro Football Focus. No. 2 is Los Angeles Chargers left tackle Joe Alt who was the fifth pick in the draft, and no. 3 is Pittsburgh Steelers center Zach Frazier who was the 51st pick in the draft.

Puni was the 86th pick. In college, he played every position on the offensive line except right guard. But in training camp, both Spencer Burford and Jon Feliciano got injured which created an opening for Puni to start. Had those two veterans not gone down, Puni might never have played. Head coach Kyle Shanahan rarely plays rookies unless he has to.

But Puni was an instant success. He was the only rookie on the 49ers who started all 17 games. Next season, he could be a Pro Bowler if he continues to improve.

Before Puni became the right guard, starting right tackle Colton McKivitz was a complete liability -- he gave up a whopping 13 sacks in 2023. This season, he gave up 8. And that's not because he improved. He simply played next to Puni who protected him.

The 49ers deserve major credit for finding such a terrific player in Round 3.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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