SANTA CLARA – Dominick Puni, the 49ers’ rookie right guard, laughs at the high school debates he had with his buddies, sizing up whether they could block any NFL defensive lineman just one time out of 100.
“In high school, I said zero (times). I was very realistic,” said Puni, who attended Francis Howell Central High in Cottleville, 32 miles west of St. Louis. “Any NFL defensive lineman, you’re not blocking them.”
Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, Puni and the 49ers must make sure they block Kansas City Chiefs defensive star Chris Jones 100 percent of the time.
Just one lapse and … well, a Super Bowl dream could vanish, as was the case Feb. 11.
Brock Purdy’s final, fateful snap in Super Bowl LVIII saw Jones dart right at him on essentially a free rush. Right guard Spencer Burford went with his gut rather than follow his proper assignment to block merely the Chiefs’ best defender.
Purdy didn’t have time to spot Brandon Aiyuk racing open across the middle, stayed committed to No. 1 option Jauan Jennings, and Purdy’s overthrow prompted a field goal that would be eclipsed by the Chiefs’ ensuing touchdown drive in their 25-22 overtime win.
Four years earlier, Jones caused chaos in the trenches when the Chiefs scored 21 unanswered points in their Super Bowl comeback over the 49ers in Miami Gardens, Fla.
To prevent further damage, Puni is looking forward to facing Jones and the two-time defending champion Chiefs (5-0) when the 49ers (3-3) host Sunday’s game at Levi’s Stadium.
Puni has been a Day 1 starter for the 49ers as a third-round draft pick. As a Missouri kid, he was enamored with Aaron Donald’s dominance for the St. Louis-then-Los Angeles Rams. Donald’s retirement this past offseason ruined Puni’s dream matchup, so blocking Jones will make up for that scenario.
“Aaron Donald was going to be the first test until he retired,” Puni said. “Obviously I know how crazy of a challenge it would have been, but just to say you did it …
“Chris Jones is in that echelon, too. He’s one of the best D-tackles, if not the best, in the league,” Puni added. “So I’m excited for it, it will be a great matchup and it will propel me for the rest of the season, too.”
The 49ers mostly contained Donald’s damage by scheming their way around the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and Jones commands similar attention.
“It’s sometimes a little bit harder to eliminate him, where he goes, and just some of the pressures they do, but he definitely deserves that attention,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday. “He’s as good a player as there is and we try our hardest to take him out, but he makes that pretty hard.”
“Chris Jones is an absolute monster,” tight end George Kittle said this week on Deebo Samuel’s Cleats & Convos podcast. “Can’t leave him one-on-one. He’s probably going to get an Aaron Donald treatment, where you just always slide to him, get four hands on him 24/7.”
A day after the 2016 NFL Draft opened, nine spots after the 49ers blew a first-round pick on Stanford guard Joshua Garnett, the Kansas City Chiefs drafted Jones, a Mississippi State defensive tackle destined to ruin the 49ers’ Super Bowl fates. (Disclaimer: the 49ers used their initial first-round pick on a stud defensive tackle, DeForest Buckner, at No. 7 overall.)
Jones, drafted No. 37 overall, never had more than three sacks in any of his three college seasons. Jones, the 49ers have learned, is not defined by sacks.
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“Disruptive” is how Jones is described by 49ers defensive tackle Maliek Collins, himself a 2016 draft pick (No. 67 overall, Dallas Cowboys.
“If you watch him on tape, you see how great he is with his hands,” Collins said. “He can catch hands in mid-air. When he throws his swipe … he’s been a dominant player in this league for a long time. He’s a ballplayer. Give him a ballplayer title.”