Why the 49ers Drafted Dominick Puni in Round 3?

"We liked the tape, liked the versatility and wanted to make him a Niner."

Mar 3, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kansas offensive lineman Dominick Puni (OL59) during the 2024 / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers traded up to draft offensive lineman Dominick Puni in Round 3. Here's why, according to GM John Lynch.

Q: Dominick Puni suggested that you guys are probably looking at him as a guard. He played tackle as well. What's the plan for him?

LYNCH: "Our belief is that we're going to start him on the inside as a guard, but the cool thing about Dominick is that it's not often you can say about a player that he can play all five (positions), and we believe that's the case with him. He snapped in practice. He snapped in the Senior Bowl down in Mobile. Played some center in the game. Played left tackle in 2023, guard in the previous year. So we believe he has it in him. That's really a cool thing to have in a player, and he can do it at a high level. That's part of the reason we moved up to take him there. Really fired up about him."

Q: Is his pass protection something that really drew you to him?

LYNCH: "He's a solid football player. He's a guy we got out here on a 30 visit. We got comfortable with the person. It's not essential, but it's nice to be around them a little bit more and see them in an environment with their peers and how the interact with our coaches, and there was a good feel there, we liked the tape, liked the versatility and wanted to make him a Niner."