Following the departure of veteran starters, Chicago’s versatile first-round pick is training across the secondary to anchor a revamped defense needing high-impact production and schematic flexibility.
The Chicago Bears have a versatile player at their disposal in safety Dillon Thieneman.
Thieneman was taken 25th overall by the Bears out of Oregon in the 2026 NFL Draft. In college, he was primarily a safety but also lined up at several other positions.
He took snaps at cornerback, slot corner, defensive line, box and free safety. Thieneman could be used in a lot of different ways by the Bears.
The Bears will have two new starting safeties this season. Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker left in free agency, and General Manager Ryan Poles signed Coby Bryant from the Seattle Seahawks to replace one of them.
As both Bryant and Thieneman are getting familiar with Dennis Allen's defense, it sounds like the Bears are making sure to get everything they can out of the Oregon product.
Thieneman spoke with Matt Pendelton of Bears Wire and shared that he is learning both safety positions.
"I mean, just more in the backhand," Thieneman said when asked about what he expects his specific role to be. "They want me to know both positions. So just know all of the DB positions, but as of right now, I’m playing some strong safety, but still understanding what the free safety is doing."
When you have a player like Thieneman on your hands, why wouldn't you want him to learn multiple positions?
Thieneman thrived in college, recording 100 total tackles in two of the three seasons he played. He hit that mark at Purdue twice and came close at Oregon, finishing with 96 last season.
Based on his college stats, it seems that Thieneman is going to be a productive player no matter where the Bears put him. He had eight interceptions, 10 TFLs and two sacks in college.
Replacing players like Byard and Brisker is no easy task. However, Bryant and Thieneman are well equipped to continue the strong safety play the Bears have had recently.
It's great that Chicago has good continuity at safety, but the secondary as a whole will need to improve. The Bears' defense allowed the 11th-most passing yards per game (239.4) last season.
Both Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon must be on the field this season. We saw just how much of a difference it makes when they are injured. Johnson suffered a groin injury in Week 2, and Gordon had several different ailments.
Johnson and Gordon came back in Week 13, but the slot corner had a major setback before the Green Bay Packers game in Week 14 and missed the remainder of the regular season.
If those two can stay healthy along with Bryant and Thieneman catching up to speed, we could see a much better secondary in 2026.
