Dominick Puni Will Compete to Start at Right Guard for the 49ers

"We'll primarily work him at right guard right now. That's a place we felt we could get some competition going and work at that spot."

Mar 3, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kansas offensive lineman Dominick Puni (OL59) during the 2024 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

SANTA CLARA -- Rookie third-round pick Dominick Puni will have an opportunity to start this year.

Offensive line coach Chris Foerster explained the 49ers' vision for Puni on Wednesday.

Q: Dominick Puni can play a bunch of spots. Is there a spot that he's more advanced in any of the five spots?

FOERSTER: "He's played guard and tackle, I think. I don't know, he might've even played center at some point, but he's built to be a guard. Now does that not mean he won't be our fourth tackle possibly the way the roster shakes out? Could he be our starting right guard or left? He could be a swing guard. The only thing, I'm not sure I'm going to rep him at is center, but he's going to be able to play left guard, left tackle, right guard, right tackle. We'll primarily work him at right guard right now. That's a place we felt we could get some competition going and work at that spot. But he easily could be the fourth tackle, third. He could work in anywhere there. He's got ability to play all. He's best suited to guard though. You never know what happens. We'll see how it plays out."

Q: What did you like about Puni?

FOERSTER: "Dom, on tape, was a little different than [OL] Colton [McKivitz]. In other words, you didn't see a lot on tape that was what we do. But you saw in his testing, and you saw glimpses of it on tape. He is one of those guys that, we've talked about a lot of times, where you look at him and you'd say, ‘Gosh, is that guy for you?’ We drafted [OL Aaron] Banks and it was the same way. You would go, ‘Gosh, this is a big old guard from Notre Dame. Is he really going to fit?’ But then you watch him run some screens and you see some things and go, ‘Oh yeah, if we start doing it every day.’ So, this is a big guy that has some size. He also has some quickness, some power. He’s not the prototypical little quick guy, he is a guy that's got the size range and length. One of those guys that will be holed up on third down, he was a very good pass blocker in college, that should translate to our game. And then, getting him to do our run game is going to be his biggest adjustment. So just all the traits that we need in our system. It didn't jump off the tape, but it was there."