While not much went right for the San Francisco 49ers in the 2024 season, the early returns from a crop of rookies that played extensive snaps suggest they nailed last year's draft.

The standout player from their draft class was undoubtedly guard Dominick Puni, who started every game for the Niners at right guard and shone in both pass protection and the run game.

And the third-round selection out of Kansas received deserved recognition on Tuesday. Puni was the sole 49er named to the Pro Football Writers of America's All-Rookie Team.

He is the first San Francisco offensive lineman to be named to the All-Rookie Team since Mike McGlinchey in 2018.

More impressively, he is the first 49ers guard to earn All-Rookie Team honors since Mike Iupati did so in 2010.

Dominick Puni is the first 49ers guard to make the All-Rookie team since Mike Iupati (2010). He’s the first offensive lineman at any position since Mike McGlinchey (2018).

— Nicholas McGee (@nicholasmcgee.bsky.social) 21 January 2025 at 18:34

Iupati went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL, and was part of the 49ers team that went agonizingly close to winning the Super Bowl in the 2012 season.

That is a good omen for Puni, who, in a season partially defined by injuries showed the durability to be able to play all 17 games, fighting through the rookie wall to do so.

Puni was clearly the best rookie guard in the game in 2024, ranking as the highest-graded first year player at the position in both pass blocking (min. 100 pass block snaps) and run blocking, according to Pro Football Focus.

Of the 84 guards with at least 200 snaps, Puni ranked 18th in Sports Info Solutions' 'points earned' metric, which takes Expected Points Added and assigns a value for every player on each play from scrimmage, in pass blocking (16.69). He was slightly less influential as a run blocker, ranking 26th with 13.58.

But considering run blocking was thought of as a weakness for Puni heading into the draft, his performance in that area in his first year in the pros represented tremendous strides for the former Jayhawk.

Puni settled into the pros with remarkable ease. Should he continue on his current trajectory in the coming seasons, he will soon be in the mix for more prestigious honors.

Ohio State’s National Championship hero a strong candidate to help Kyle Shanahan continue his 49ers draft tradition in 2025

Don’t rule out the Shanahan doing it again.