Strange, but it felt like Dominick Puni broke out in his rookie year in 2024. Unfortunately, his 2025 saw a bit of a regression after a solid 2024 campaign. Blame it on a PCL injury in August, but that was just his first month.
Could the San Francisco 49ers’ right guard be poised for a breakout? It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a player go from a decent rookie season to a step back in year 2 and then get it all together in year 3.
Over at NFL.com, Bucky Brooks put together an offensive all-breakout team of one player per position who he thought would have a significant rise in stock. Puni was the only 49er who made the list:
The 2024 third-round pick has started 36 consecutive games (postseason included) in an offense that relies on his punishing skills at the point of attack. As a mauler who specializes in moving defenders off the ball, Puni is an essential piece to the 49ers’ dynamic running game. Although the heavy-handed shadow boxer must continue to improve in pass protection, San Francisco has a Pro Bowler in the making at right guard.
The final year of Puni’s contract is 2027, so that gives him two more years to justify a lucrative extension. As KP said in the post linked above, New York Jets’ Joe Tippmann is a good comparison of what kind of extension Puni could get right now—but Puni’s actual numbers resemble Dallas Cowboys’ Tyler Smith.
It’s been a running gag that the 49ers either have issues with their offensive line (minus Trent Williams) or the pieces that do pan out wind up playing out of the 49ers’ price range (See Banks, Aaron & McGlinchey, Mike).
There was a lot to see from Puni in his rookie season, and the aforementioned knee injury likely had a hand in some of those blown blocks: 21 in the first seven weeks of the season. After Week 8, Puni only had one game with more than three blown blocks.
If that’s the case, maybe that PCL injury was worse than we thought?
Do you see Puni having a breakout year in 2026?
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