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After suffering more injuries than almost any other team in the NFL over the course of the offseason, it's safe to say the San Francisco 49ers will have at least a few unlikely starters come Week 1, as even the likes of Talanoa Hufanga, Ricky Pearsall, and Spencer Burford could miss their expected starts when Aaron Rodgers comes home to the Bay Area.
While this is obviously unfortunate for one of the true Super Bowl favorites in the NFC, their absence has allowed other players to step up in their absence, including Dominick Puni, the team's 2024 third-round pick out of Kansas, who has been soaking up serious minutes at the right guard position.
Asked what he's thought of Puni through camp given his expanded workload on Sunday, Kyle Shanahan celebrated what he's seen, noting that he believes that the Jayhawk's positive work in camp has translated onto the preseason field.
“I thought he's done a good job in all three of his games,” Shanahan told reporters. “As we've talked about before, he got a h*ll of an opportunity with the guys in front of him going down, and I believe he's taken advantage of it, and he's gotten better throughout the camp, and it's carried over to these games.”
Considering the 49ers are also incredibly light at the left tackle position with Trent Williams away from the team, Shanahan was asked if he ever thought about playing Puni in the Pro Bowler's spot, but even if he did, he didn't have a chance to see it in action. Why? Because between the injuries to Burford and Jon Feliciano, they needed to get Puni on the field at right guard.
“I mean, we probably would've if he didn't have to get at the starting guard position within those first couple days because just with [OL Spencer Burford] Spence going down so fast and then [OL Jon] Feliciano doing the same. So, we weren't able to move him out there at those spots. But we didn't draft him thinking we would put him there, but we know he has the skill set to get us out of a pinch and do that if he had to.”
Would it be cool if Puni could become the next Daniel Brunskill, a do-it-all utility lineman who can play quality snaps at any position across the line? Sure thing, but what the 49ers need even more is a starting-caliber right guard, at least for now, and if Puni can fill that role, fans will be incredibly happy with his contributions.
Kyle Shanahan reminds 49ers fans that the initial 53 isn't the final 53
While fans can get incredibly invested in their favorite team's initial 53-man roster, there has never been a team in the modern history of the league that didn't suffer an injury, make a trade, or in some way change their roster over the course of the season.
Because of this fact, Shanahan told reporters he takes great care of reminding players of this fact as the 49ers prepare their initial 53-man roster, as San Francisco has cut players in August who started in the Super Bowl plenty of times over the past few years.
“It's a huge thing. I always try to make a point of it. One of the things I say a lot is that, they talk about it being the final 53, but never in the history of football has the final 53 been the final 53. That's just the final 53 on Tuesday at one o'clock, I think it is. But after that it's always changing. And you've got 53 guys who you decide on then, you've got 16 on practice squad. That changes a ton throughout the year,” Shanahan noted.
“We've had guys like [OL] Colton McKivitz on our practice squad who's a starter now. [WR] Jauan Jennings, [LB Demetrius] Flannigan-Fowles. We've had a lot of guys. [WR] Chris Conley started that way last year, was on our active roster making big plays in the Super Bowl and the playoffs. So, the point is sticking around in this league and finding a way to do it. Even people don't get into those situations, I always like to tell people that when we get in binds and you need to get people in the middle of the year, we'd always rather get a person that we know than just some random dude that we don't. And so even the guys that there isn't a spot on practice squad if they handle it here the right way and usually they can make it through camp that means that there's something that they can bring. So even if you're not on one of those 16, you always have a chance with us in the future.”
Who will be the surprise contributor who comes out of left field and becomes a player for the 49ers this fall? It's impossible to know now, but keep an eye on the 16 players John Lynch adds to his practice squad, as it's safe to say at least one of them – maybe more – will end up being a player for SF this fall.
