{"id":108781,"date":"2025-06-06T14:40:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T14:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/108781\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T14:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T14:40:10","slug":"49ers-have-a-top-10-guard-in-dominick-puni-says-pff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/108781\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers have a top-10 guard in Dominick Puni, says PFF"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\t\t\t\tPublished Jun 6, 2025 \u2022 19 mins ago\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/article-770x433-1b70ee4cc4155229fa149fdbcc18a853.webp.webp\"   width=\"770\" height=\"433\" alt=\"Story Photo\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\">Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>The above videos are auto-populated by an affiliate.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" alt=\"read tracker\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1749220810_275_ad-read-counter\" class=\"ad-block advertisement adblock ad-container read-tracker\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The San Francisco 49ers likely didn&#8217;t anticipate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/P\/PuniDo00.htm\" data-playername=\"Dominick Puni\" title=\"Dominick Puni stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Dominick Puni<\/a> becoming such a vital piece of their offensive line during his rookie 2024 campaign\u2014at least not as quickly as it happened. But injuries forced the third-round pick into the starting lineup, and Puni rose to the challenge, playing 100% of the team&#8217;s 1,078 offensive snaps.<\/p>\n<p>As it turns out, the 49ers may have uncovered a top-10 guard in Puni. That&#8217;s how Pro Football Focus (PFF) sees it, based on the offensive lineman&#8217;s impressive debut season. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pff.com\/news\/nfl-guard-rankings-top-32-ahead-of-2025-nfl-season\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">He ranked No. 10 on their list of the top 32 guards<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The third-round pick in 2024 hit the ground running in his rookie campaign, setting up what should be a highly productive career,&#8221; wrote PFF analyst Mason Cameron.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Puni posted the fifth-highest PFF overall grade (80.5) among qualifying guards. He stands out as a road-grading interior run blocker, with his 18.5% positively graded play rate on runs ranking fifth out of 77 guards.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He also finished as the highest-graded rookie offensive lineman, with an 81.5 run-blocking grade that led all first-year players at the position. While he surrendered 35 pressures and three sacks on the year, all three sacks came after Week 12.<\/p>\n<p>Puni&#8217;s performance dipped late in the season. He earned a pass-blocking grade below 65.9 in three of his final four games, including a season-low 44.7 in Week 15 against the Los Angeles Rams, when he allowed two sacks.<\/p>\n<p>That late-season slump may have been the result of rookie fatigue, with Puni adjusting to the demands of his first full 17-game NFL season. With that experience now under his belt, there&#8217;s good reason to believe he could take a significant leap forward in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tNobody&#8217;s perfect. Did you find a mistake in this article? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.49erswebzone.com\/contact\/correction\/191660\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tComments<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tDo not use the comments to notify us of errors in the article. Editors may not see it. Instead, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.49erswebzone.com\/contact\/correction\/191660\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">report errors here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore San Francisco 49ers News\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.49erswebzone.com\/articles\/191597-deommodore-lenoir-outside-cornerback-rankings\/\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.49erswebzone.com\/v\/9gAYcT\/content\/media\/cache\/article-770x433-809e0d5a0e11b9cc45e43dedf314a3e2.webp\" class=\"article-photo unveil\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">49ers&#8217; Deommodore Lenoir lands outside top 20 in PFF cornerback rankings<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<br \/>\n\t\t49ers&#8217; Deommodore Lenoir lands outside top 20 in PFF cornerback rankings<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tDeommodore Lenoir may view himself as one of the NFL&#8217;s top cornerbacks, and the San Francisco 49ers clearly believe in his potential. The team recently signed him to a five-year contract extension, signaling that they see him as a foundational piece of their defense. However,&#8230;\t\t<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.49erswebzone.com\/articles\/191468-49ers-christian-mccaffrey-ranked-running\/\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.49erswebzone.com\/v\/9gAYcT\/content\/media\/cache\/article-770x433-69658f67f58a7c1aee0a11bdde251848.webp\" class=\"article-photo unveil\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">49ers star Christian McCaffrey ranked No. 7 among PFF&#8217;s top running backs<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<br \/>\n\t\t49ers star Christian McCaffrey ranked No. 7 among PFF&#8217;s top running backs<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tSan Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey remains one of the most respected names in the NFL, even after a brutal 2024 campaign marred by injuries. Pro Football Focus (PFF) recently released its list of the top 32 NFL running backs for the 2025 season, and McCaffrey&#8230;\t\t<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.49erswebzone.com\/articles\/191538-49ers-williams-tackle-rankings-season\/\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.49erswebzone.com\/v\/9gAYcT\/content\/media\/cache\/article-770x433-b5a9b5c9b2c5e65495012338efb1b93c.webp\" class=\"article-photo unveil\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">49ers&#8217; Trent Williams falls in PFF tackle rankings ahead of 2025 season<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<br \/>\n\t\t49ers&#8217; Trent Williams falls in PFF tackle rankings ahead of 2025 season<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tTrent Williams, once heralded as Pro Football Focus&#8217; (PFF) top-ranked offensive tackle heading into the 2024 NFL season, has dropped in the latest rankings following an injury-plagued year. Previously dubbed the &#8220;gold standard at the position,&#8221; the San Francisco 49ers&#8217; veteran&#8230;\t\t<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.49erswebzone.com\/articles\/191611-makes-surprising-pick-49ers-achilles\/\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.49erswebzone.com\/v\/9gAYcT\/content\/media\/cache\/article-770x433-d04ee128bc730da02109d1a67798a675.webp\" class=\"article-photo unveil\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PFF makes surprising pick for 49ers&#8217; Achilles heel<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<br \/>\n\t\tPFF makes surprising pick for 49ers&#8217; Achilles heel<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tWhen San Francisco 49ers fans think of their team&#8217;s Achilles heel\u2014that one opponent who always seems to have their number\u2014Patrick Mahomes likely comes to mind. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback is a perfect 5-0 against the 49ers, including two devastating Super&#8230;\t\t<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published Jun 6, 2025 \u2022 19 mins ago Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images The above videos are auto-populated by an&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,13292,7,6,1161,252,2624,2623],"class_list":{"0":"post-108781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-dominick-puni","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-san-francisco","13":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","14":"tag-sanfrancisco","15":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114636942596156601","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}