The Chicago Bears invested in their defense by selecting Oregon's Dillon Thieneman with the 25th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Here is what the safety adds to the Bears' secondary.
The more you watch Dillon Thieneman play, the more you see exactly why the Chicago Bears selected him with the 25th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The 6-foot, 205-pound safety is athletic, fast and versatile -- all attributes that fit exactly what the Bears wanted to add to their defense.
In this college career (two years at Purdue and one Oregon), Thieneman filled up the stat sheet and did so from a variety of different alignments with his 2,417 defensive snaps played, according to Pro Football Focus.
- 235 total tackles and improved his tackling, going from 13.1% missed tackle rate to 8.3% his junior year
- 8 interceptions
- 11 PBUs
- 11 total pressures
- 2 forced fumbles
Alignment snap counts
- Free safety (1,399)
- Box (732)
- Slot (236)
- Corner (27)
- DL (21)
The stats are great, but the tape is even better. Chicago Bears general manager alluded to that when he spoke to reporters at Halas Hall on Thursday night.
“When we do our meetings, we take the average of the high grades from the fall, and we work from the top down," Poles said. ""When we started the safety position, there's a couple of good ones that we liked. Dillon's tape popped out. Just the sense of urgency that he plays with, the speed. We talk about taking the air out of the defense or out of the offense. His ability to close on the football, both in the run and the pass, stood out really, really quick. As we watched it, the comments you could hear: This guy is obsessed with football, plays fast.
He's extremely smart, great leader and violent in the way that he plays the game. Everything that we're looking for. Then on top of that, you have some versatility. If he has to, he can go over and play a little bit of nickel. He can play free (safety). He can play strong (safety). Really good fit for what we're trying to do.”
Let's look into that fit and some All-22 from Oregon's matchup against USC last season.
Closing Speed and Play Recognition
Poles mentioned Thieneman's speed and ability to close on the football. The two plays in the clip below illustrate just how fast Thieneman is on the football field. He ran a 4.35 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, fourth fastest among safeties.
He speeds pops on the All-22, and it's clear as day.
Then on second play in the video, Thieneman out runs the offensive lineman attempting to block him and closes on the running back to make a tackle. These plays were consistent throughout the game against the Trojans.
Battle of First-Round Picks
This game featured two first-round draft picks: Thieneman (No. 25) and WR Makai Lemon (No. 20 overall to the Philadelphia Eagles).
Seeing those two top-end athletes compete was a huge reason why I chose to watch this film. Lemon ended the game with seven receptions for 34 yards and two touchdowns, but zero touchdowns were credited to Thieneman.
The Oregon Ducks trusted Thieneman to cover Lemon. There is not a lot of safeties that are capable of holding up in coverage against a shifty and talented route runner like Lemon.
The first play shows Lemon actually turning Thieneman around on a double move, but the Oregon safety doesn't panic, stays with Lemon and forces an incomplete pass. On the second play, the Bears' first-round pick immediately takes away any possible angle to throw the ball to the USC wide receiver on a vertical route. Another incomplete pass that almost leads to an interception.
The final play in the video isn't against Lemon but instead the Trojans' tight end, but still highlights Thieneman's coverage ability. He runs with the seam route easily and doesn't give the quarterback a throwing window, which leads to an Oregon interception.
Physicality and Determination
Realistically, I could have had an entire article devoted to how Thieneman plays against wide receiver screens. He's instinctive, physical and understands how to take proper angles and maneuver his body to avoid contact
What you will see in the clips below is his willingness to cover ground and finish the plays, especially on the jet motion handoff to Lemon. Thieneman also blows up a receiver screen to Lemon on the first rep in the video. Enjoy.
Something that also consistently appeared on film was Thieneman communicating with his teammates. The Oregon safety showed a great understanding of the entire defense as well as how to adjust to USC's offense.
The Bears now have a versatile and springy athlete in the backfield who can cover a lot of ground, play the run and do so with physicality. He should be a huge asset to fellow safety Coby Bryant and make Allen's job much easier on game days.
