As his unlikely ascent continues, San Francisco 49ers rookie offensive lineman Dominick Puni is earning praise from coaches and working toward maybe even earning a starting role when he makes his NFL debut next month.
Puni, a Francis Howell Central graduate who was picked in the third round (86th overall) in April's NFL Draft, started at right guard in Saturday's 49ers preseason opener.
Afterwards, head coach Kyle Shanahan had only good things to say about Puni.
"Anytime somebody gets starter reps you know it's always open," Shanahan . "You don't just give it away and stuff. But it's always an opportunity. People get opportunities and you see how they take advantage of it and he's doing hell of a job so far."
Puni, of Samoan ancestry, played 45% of the snaps in that game, more than any other 49ers offensive lineman.
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He's been a fast learner, impressing his position coach.
Puni has been better than expected "from the fact of how much he's mentally picked up and able to step into this role right now and has done a good job,"Â 49ers offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Foerster . "Although we saw that in potential in him."
That learning ability is born of the quiet, steady Puni's relentless work ethic. He credits his father, Teu, for that trait.
"My whole time growing up until high school he coached me," Puni . "He just really taught me hard work and how to do everything the right way, don't take shortcuts."
Spending six years in college may have also given Puni a lot of practice studying.
He was at Division II Central Missouri for four years then the past two at Kansas. Between the COVID pandemic canceling the 2020 Division II season and an injury Puni suffered in 2021, he only played one game over the course of his last two seasons at Central Missouri before heading to Lawrence, Kansas.
Puni didn't allow a quarterback sack in 745 snaps at left tackle last season with the Jayhawks. His pass blocking grade of 90.5 from Pro Football Focus ranked third among FBS tackles while helping to propel a Kansas rushing attack that was in the top 10 in the nation.
After being drafted, Puni immediately embraced his next task.
The 49ers send out iPads to newly drafted rookies, and Foerster said Puni called the team's video coordinators the day his arrived in the mail.
"He said, 'Where do I get all of coach's meetings?'" Foerster . "We record everything. He wanted every single meeting. By the time he showed up for rookie minicamp, which I think was two weeks after the draft, he'd watched all of my install meetings from phase one, phase two and everything we'd done to that point. He'd watched them all.
"I know I couldn't sit through all those offensive meetings. He grabbed them and ate them up."