SANTA CLARA, Calif. — First the bad news: The San Francisco 49ers on Monday will pit a rookie right guard against an attacking New York Jets defensive line led by Quinnen Williams, whose 70 quarterback pressures last season ranked third among defensive tackles.
The good news: Dominick Puni spent all of August going against a very similar defense and emerged not only with a starting job but also abundant praise from hard-to-impress defensive veterans.
“It’s my ninth camp and he’s definitely the most polished rookie I’ve been around,” Maliek Collins said after a recent practice. “His ability to recover is what makes him different.”
When Puni, the 49ers’ third-round draft pick, arrived in the spring, he worked with the third-team offense. He quickly moved to the second-team group and then, following a hand injury to guard Spencer Burford, found himself in the starting lineup early in training camp. It meant he’s been matched against every defensive tackle on San Francisco’s roster at some point since practices began in May.
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We spoke to the four most veteran players at the position about Puni: Collins, Javon Hargrave, Jordan Elliott and Kevin Givens.
The first thing they mentioned was the rookie’s quickness, something that was reflected in his impressive 4.40-second time in the short shuttle at this year’s NFL Scouting Combine.
Hargrave called Puni “sneaky athletic.” Said Givens: “He’s a real good athlete.”
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Givens, who may be the 49ers’ most nimble defensive tackle, said that when he gets an initial step on a guard or center, he usually continues moving in that direction. Puni, however, is so good at recovering and heading off his opponent that Givens must resort to Plan B midway through the pass rush.
“What happens is he’s going to beat you there, so you’ve got to try to beat him with a second move,” Givens said. “You have to have a plan to go at him or he’s going to block you.”
The other often-repeated assessment is that Puni carries himself more like an eight-year veteran than a 24-year-old rookie. He looked comfortable when he first started practicing with the team’s top offensive line and never was rattled during the three preseason games.
Elliott said Puni had the bearing of a 30-something player.
“He has an IQ that a lot of O-linemen don’t ever develop, right?” Elliott said. “And he’s only a rookie.”
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Puni also is physically mature. Sometimes when rookies arrive, it’s clear they need to hit the weight room. That hasn’t been the case with the third-round pick.
“You definitely feel his strength,” Collins said. “I don’t know, man, these kids coming out of these college programs nowadays — that’s all they do is lift weights.”
Said Givens: “He’s solid. He definitely don’t look the biggest. But, like, he’s strong. Trust me. I can’t get much knock-back on him in the run game.”
If last year is a guide, Puni might see a few snaps against the Jets’ Williams, who can line up everywhere on the line. However, the bulk of Williams’ 2023 snaps — 675 of 778, according to Pro Football Focus — were from the right side of the defensive line, signaling he’ll mostly be matched against left guard Aaron Banks in Week 1.
If that’s the case, Puni will see a lot of former 49ers defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw, whose best assets are his size — 6-5, 324 pounds — and strength.
In that way, Puni seemed to get a good warm-up for Monday’s game by going against Elliott, the 49ers’ biggest defender, throughout training camp. His two most common practice opponents were Collins and Elliott, who seemed to take a lot of pride in getting the rookie ready for the start of the season.
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Collins, for example, is the 49ers’ resident spin-move king. It’s a maneuver he’s good at and one he used often against Puni in training camp. So when Puni’s New Orleans Saints opponent tried a spin move — “three or four times,” Puni recalled — in the second preseason game, Collins and the other defensive tackles knew Puni would be ready.
“We were kind of laughing on the sideline,” Hargrave said. “Because we knew he’d already seen that.”
Said Collins: “The guy gave him a spin and (Puni) was standing right there in front of him. I wouldn’t attribute it to me. But I know I’ve shown him a lot of spin moves. And I’d be mad at him if he let somebody win on a spin move.”
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(Photo: Michael Zagaris / San Francisco 49ers / Getty Images)
