Dennis Allen Explains What Makes Bears S Dillon Thieneman an Eraser

The Chicago Bears used their first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft on Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman. 

He is going to have a big role as a rookie. 

He was initially drafted to replace the loss of Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker, who both left in free agency. The Bears added Coby Bryant in free agency to play alongside him, but then he suffered a major injury. 

Bryant suffered a knee injury during training camp and is expected to be out for the next 4-6 months. Thieneman is now going to be taking much more responsibility with Bryant sidelined for a while. 

It will be a lot to ask of a rookie like Thieneman, but he is experienced from his time at Oregon and Purdue. He lined up at multiple positions in college, but another part of his game that stands out is his speed. 

He had an official 40-yard dash time of 4.35 seconds. 

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is excited to get to use this in his secondary. He spoke to the media recently and called Thieneman an eraser. 

"Yeah, I mean, it was good to see, you know?" Allen said. "That's a skill set that I think he has. That range was something that, you know, showed up on tape at Purdue. It showed up at Oregon, you know? That we something we always felt like he could do. So, I think when you have an eraser back there in the middle of the field that, you know, can cover a lot of ground, you know, that presents some challenges and it allows the outside pieces to be a little bit more aggressive if they know that there's somebody back there in the middle of the field that's got the range to, you know, kind of protect them over the top a little bit." 

What Allen means by "eraser" is that Thieneman's speed allows him to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. This basically means that Thieneman can erase the distance between him and opposing receivers. 

This can allow for the Bears to put more faith in the outside cornerbacks knowing that there's a safety like Thieneman who can protect them from the deep ball over the top. 

Losing a veteran like Bryant for multiple months this early in the season isn't ideal. Luckily, the Bears have a player like Thieneman at their disposal who has a unique skill set that can do a lot of things at a high level.