Was Dominick Puni the Right Pick for the 49ers in Round 3?

Puni is a late bloomer.

Kansas redshirt senior offensive lineman Dominick Puni (67) hikes the ball during practice Thursday. / Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA

After not taking an offensive tackle in Round 1 or 2, the 49ers were desperate for one in Round 3. But instead of trading up for an offensive tackle, they traded up for Dominick Puni, a guard who might be able to play center one day.

Puni is a late bloomer. He played his first three years of college football at Central Missouri, a Division II school. Then he transferred to Kansas, not exactly a football powerhouse, where he played left guard and left tackle. Now he's 24. Which means he finally flourished when he was older than his competition.

After the 49ers drafted a wide receiver in Round 1 and a cornerback in Round 2, the 49ers felt they had no choice but to trade up for the best offensive linemen available in Round 3. That's why they should have taken Kingsley Suamataia in Round 2 instead of trading down and letting the Chiefs draft him.

If the 49ers had taken defensive back Cooper DeJean in Round 1 instead of wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, and if they had taken Kingsley Suamataia in Round 2 instead of cornerback Renardo Green, there would have been no need to trade up in Round 3 for Puni. They could have stood pat and taken the best wide receiver, Oregon's Troy Franklin, who has a higher draft grade on NFL.com than Pearsall and is three years younger than him.

The 49ers drafted the right positions with their first three picks -- they simply drafted them in the wrong order.