The 49ers need to drastically improve their offensive line this offseason, and the fact that they found Dominick Puni in Round 3 last year should give them confidence that they can draft another quality starter.

Puni started all 17 games at right guard — a position he never played in college — and gave the 49ers the ability to run effectively to the right side of their formations for the first time in years.

That’s one reason Pro Football Focus ranked Puni the NFL’s 100th best player of 2024.

“The 49ers struck gold when they selected Puni with the 87th pick in last April’s draft,” writes PFF analyst Mason Cameron. “The first-year guard finished as not only the highest-graded offensive lineman in the 2024 class, but his 81.9 PFF overall grade landed him in the top six among qualifying guards in the league.”

Puni finished with a higher grade than Los Angeles Chargers offensive tackle Joe Alt who was the fifth pick in the draft. That’s how impressive Puni was. If he continues to improve, he could be a perennial Pro Bowler and eventually get paid more than $20 million per season.

For now, he’s one of the biggest bargains on the 49ers. He’s a young, terrific player at a thin position who will take up just 0.4 percent of the 49ers’ cap space next season. He gives the 49ers someone in the trenches who can match up with the best defensive tackles in the NFL such as Chris Jones of the Chiefs and Jalen Carter of the Eagles.

Now the 49ers have to find the next Puni.

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