SCOUTING REPORT: STRENGTHS
He’s a coordinated athlete who can win at the point of attack in the run game, and Puni can also move to consistently land blocks at the second level.
Fires out of his stance with a good pad level, consistently winning at the point of attack.
Showing some nastiness to his game, he will sustain blocks through the whistle, thriving when he’s in the phone booth.
Consistently keeps his feet sliding while maintaining power when dealing with speed, often sending speed rushers flying past the pocket
Shows a good feel for combo blocks, and he displays good quickness and flexibility when moving to the second level, capable of sealing the back side on reach blocks
Fires off the line of scrimmage with good initial power at the point of attack. Puni consistently holds his own against mammoth defensive tackles, and his hand strength allows him to grip and move opponents in the run game. Arm length/wingspan, High motor/effort, Experienced player, Athletic
SCOUTING REPORT: WEAKNESSES
He’s shaky as a pass protector, which is troublesome for the next level. Puni often plays too high with an inconsistent kick slide.
Had issues against quality counter moves, struggling to readjust. That’s something he’ll see frequently against NFL technicians in the pass rush.
Tends to slip off blocks when going against bigger linemen, and Puni too often finishes plays on the ground. Bends at waist, trouble sustaining blocks, Hand placement leads to holding
Film Analysis:
Dominick Puni is an experienced OT who started his career in Division II at Central Missouri. Puni transferred to Kansas for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Puni became an immediate starter and had a positive impact on a Kansas offense that was one of the best scoring offenses in FBS over the past couple of seasons, using his athleticism and effort to be a reliable player.
Puni has above-average athleticism that combined with his arm length/wingspan serves as a key element to why he wins in both pass protection and in the run game. In pass pro, Puni does a good job of getting depth in his pass set. On defenders who want to run the arc, he has the opportunity to make first contact with them and ultimately force them around the quarterback.
As a run blocker with defenders on the line of scrimmage, Puni can be quick off the ball and will quickly get into defenders and work to hold the line of scrimmage and finish blocks. On plays where he has to climb to second-level defenders, he has the athleticism to do so and will make contact with defenders to prevent them from getting to the ball-carrier.
Puni’s improvements as a player start with his high stance and how it impacts various other elements of his game. In both pass pro and as a run blocker at the snap, Puni raises up out of his stance and it negatively impacts his movement skills. Instead of being in position to redirect and mirror defenders, Puni can't because of his high stance and ultimately has to have bad hand placement which will lead to holding penalties. His high stance also shows in how he redirects in pass pro. Once he gets depth and has to redirect to close off the inside counter by defenders, he struggles to do so because he is not in a good position with his base. A high concentration of improvement on his ability to remain in good position could go a long way and will exponentially speed up his process of improving in both pass pro and run blocking.
