Dominick Puni is the 49ers' Unsung Hero according to NFL.com

Puni is the best offensive linemen John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have drafted since they joined the organization in 2017
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers guard Dominick Puni (77) before the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Dec 30, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers guard Dominick Puni (77) before the game against the Detroit Lions at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
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The 49ers need to overhaul their offensive line.

Trent Williams is old, Colton McKivitz is subpar, Jake Brendel is old and subpar and Aaron Banks is a free agent. He's not coming back. And the other three could be gone in a year.

Fortunately for the 49ers, they have Dominick Puni, their right guard who just finished his rookie season. They took him in Round 3 last season not understanding just how good he is. But injuries in training camp to Jon Feliciano and Spencer Burford opened the door for Puni to start and he never gave up the job. In fact, he was the highest-graded rookie offensive lineman in the NFL this season according to Pro Football Focus.

That's one reason NFL.com has named Puni the 49ers' unsung hero of 2024.

"A lot went wrong for San Francisco in 2024, but the 49ers nailed their third-round pick," writes NFL.com analyst Kevin Patra. "Puni was everything the Niners could've hoped for when selecting him 86th overall. A Day 1 starter, Puni fit Kyle Shanahan's offense to a T. As a rookie, he finished as one of the better run-blocking guards in the entire NFL, blowing away other first-year OGs in that regard. He missed some blocks in pass pro, particularly down the stretch, but did enough early in the season to prove he's a building block in the middle of Shanny's offense."

Puni is the best offensive linemen John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have drafted since they joined the organization in 2017. Now the 49ers have to draft another starting offensive guard this year. Expect them to take one in Round 2 or 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.