Inside San Francisco's decision to draft Kansas football offensive lineman Dominick Puni
LAWRENCE — Throughout the pre-draft process, Dominick Puni’s versatility remained a consistent topic of conversation.
Puni, who spent the past two seasons with Kansas football, wasn’t a prospect who could play one position and one only. During his Jayhawks career, he’d started at left guard for a season and left tackle for another. And the potential was there for him to be relied upon at center.
So, as San Francisco 49ers president of football operations/general manger John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan reacted to drafting Puni into the NFL, the explanations for the pick didn’t come as much of a surprise. Instead, they supported everything Puni showcased about himself during his college career. A third-round selection, and someone San Francisco traded up to get, Puni is primed to earn a role with the 49ers.
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“Our belief is that we’re going to start him on the inside, as a guard, but the cool thing about Dominick is he’s a — it’s not often you can say about a player that he can play all five, and we believe that’s the case with him,” Lynch said during an interview posted on 49ers.com. “He’s snapped in practice. He’s snapped in the Senior Bowl down in Mobile, played some center in the game. Played left tackle in ’23, guard in the previous year, and so we believe he has it in him and that’s really a cool thing to have in a player.”
According to Puni, in a separate interview on the website, the first thing that went through his head was, “Hell yeah.” San Francisco, he explained, was the team he wanted to join. It wasn’t just the history of the organization that enticed him, but the current success the 49ers were enjoying and the roster it has.
San Francisco, in the past five seasons, has finished as the Super Bowl runner-up twice and the National Football Conference (NFC) runner-up twice. Puni, who loves the weather he’ll be playing in, told his agent he didn’t enjoy any visit more than the one he took to see the 49ers. He’s eager to learn from someone like Trent Williams.
Lynch, who also praised the visit Puni made, values an ability to be around a prospect and see that individual around his peers and coaches. Shanahan highlighted the quickness Puni displayed as the NFL combine as something that stood out to him. Both pointed to the Senior Bowl as something that helped Puni improve his status.
The jump Puni will make from college to the NFL is a significant one, but he’s already made one before in his career. Puni, who transferred up to Division I-Kansas from Division II-Central Missouri, sees a correlation between the two scenarios. He aims on showing the organization it made the right pick by making the transition seamless.
“I’m going to take that same thing to the NFL,” Puni said. “I know the competition even gets even higher. Everything gets even more competitive. But there’s a reason I’m here, so I’m believing in that.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas football's Dominick Puni captured San Francisco's attention
