SANTA CLARA -- Chris Foerster has spent 26 seasons coaching NFL offensive lines, meaning he knows exactly what to look for when evaluating a young player's sustainability in the league.
One player who has earned Foerster's praises early in 49ers training camp? Rookie guard Dominick Puni, who San Francisco selected No. 86 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The only on-field work Puni has gotten as a 49er has been in the offseason program and the first three practices of camp, so what exactly has the rookie done to garner Foerster's admiration in such a short period of time since being drafted in April?
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Technique and intelligence were among the key traits Foerster highlighted while raving about Puni's potential, but the rookie also boasts physical attributes that have his position coach excited about his future prospects.
“He's a strong, big body. He just has a lot, he's no bigger than most of them, but he'll set the pocket real well," Foerster said before Friday's practice. "He plays with great anchor. He's extremely intelligent. He’s really a good player. He's a special guy and he's just not done the position for very long."
Puni measured in at 6-foot-5, 315 pounds, offering an athletic profile that makes Foerster confident the rookie can have a similar size advantage as left guard Aaron Banks, who has blossomed into an exceptional offensive lineman after a slow start early in his NFL career.
Despite Foerster's excitement about Puni's potential, the 49ers' offensive line coach acknowledged there likely will be a learning curve as the rookie guard acclimates to San Francisco's scheme.
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"And with our system, it's a little bit of a change for him," Foerster said. "So there's going to be a learning curve, but he's got some real stuff to him. A lot of our guards in our system, they tend to be quicker. That's where Banks is a great advantage. He is. Those bigger guys inside do help.”
Puni played his entire two-year career at Kansas on the left side of the offensive line, spending his entire 2022 campaign at left guard before taking over the starting left tackle job in 2023. Moving to the right side of the offensive line and having to adjust everything from timing to footwork in a new role is no easy task.
Banks, who himself moved from playing right guard at Notre Dame to becoming an above-average NFL left tackle, took time to develop and acclimate to the change. His own success story can serve as motivation for Puni, that no matter how difficult the growing pains could be, there is light at the end of the tunnel if persistence is maintained.
One of Puni's most appealing traits is his lateral quickness, as evidenced by his 4.40 short-shuttle time at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, the third-fastest among all offensive linemen in his draft class and the quickest among any non-center participating in the drill.
That rapid short-shuttle didn't go unnoticed by coach Kyle Shanahan, who praised Puni's quickness after the draft.
“I like the quickness he has,” Shanahan said. “I think he had one of the top [20-yard] shuttles at Indy, which shows it.”
Puni has been thrown into the fire during the early stages of training camp, getting reps at the right guard spot with the first string unit, having to against veteran interior defensive linemen like Javon Hargrave, Maliek Collins and Jordan Elliott.
It's not an indictment on Puni if he is unable to unseat veterans Jon Feliciano or Spencer Burford during his first NFL preseason, but the fact he's getting reps in a competition with two proven options speaks volumes about how the powers that be in San Francisco view his immediate floor, as much as the long-term upside Foerster gushed about.
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