Lucky Duck: Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman falls to Bears at No. 25, filling a need
The Chicago Bears had a clear goal of improving their defense’s speed this offseason. That mission continued on the first night of the NFL draft Thursday when they selected Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman with the No. 25 overall pick.
Thieneman impressed with his speed wherever he was on the field during his three years playing college football. It’s something that he’s always done since he would race his brothers down the driveway or race a car down the street growing up.
Now he’ll use it to become a defensive playmaker in the NFL.
“It’s been incredible,” Thieneman told reporters virtually Thursday night from Pittsburgh, the site of the draft. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime moment so I’m very glad that I came here and got to experience that with the family and other people that helped me get to this point.”
Thieneman burst onto the scene with speed during his freshman season at Purdue. He intercepted six passes with the Boilermakers and forced two fumbles while finishing with 106 tackles. After another strong sophomore season, Thieneman transferred to Oregon for his junior season to get on more NFL scouts’ radars.
He did just that.
In 15 games last season with the Ducks, Thieneman finished with two interceptions and defended five passes to go along with one sack. He had 96 tackles, 3.5 for a loss and was named a second-team AP All-American and first-team all-Big Ten.
Thieneman proved the speed the Bears saw on film matched reality. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.35 second at the NFL scouting combine at the end of February.
“Going into the combine training, I set a goal of being 4.3,” Thieneman said. “Then to go out there and do that kind of surpassed even my expectations to the point. I knew in my heart I was going to get a 4.3, but I didn’t know exactly what it would be. I feel like speed is very interesting because there’s normal speed and then there’s game plan speed. So the more you can process and recognize, the faster you can play in-game closer to your speed.”
At just over 6-foot, 201 pounds and a 31⅜-inch arm length, Thieneman has the size to play at all three safety spots. He proved he could do it throughout his time in college.
At Purdue, Thieneman mostly played in the post as a free safety. Once he joined Oregon, Thieneman had to do a little bit over everything and play from one sideline to another. In order to get ready for the draft, Thieneman also said he cross-trained at nickel.
That versatility impressed the Bears and gave him the value for Poles to select him in the first round. Thieneman had a good formal visit with the Bears during the combine but they didn’t communicate with him too much after.
Despite that Thieneman knew the Bears were very interested in him and what he could bring to the defense.
“Safety is one of those positions where you really have to watch a lot of tape, but there is plenty of snaps for him with his range, he can flip his hips, he can cover ground and then you add in the versatility, the run support, the physicality,” Bears college scouting director Breck Ackley said. “I would say range stands out.”
Thursday marked the first time since 1990 that the Bears used a first-round pick to draft a safety. Thursday also marked the first time the team selected a defensive player in the first round since 2018.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles addressed what was a position of need heading into the draft.
Thieneman will compete for a starting safety job opposite of Coby Bryant, whom the Bears signed during free agency. He’ll try to replace last year’s starters Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker, who both left the team in free agency this offseason. He’ll also compete with Elijah Hicks and Cam Lewis for the starting job.
Thieneman will try to help the Bears secondary keep up with what was a great year in creating turnovers. Chicago led the NFL last season both in takeaways and interceptions.
The Bears had other needs heading into Thursday’s draft. Many analysts expected Chicago to address either defensive tackle or defensive end in the first round after it struggled to stop the run and pressure the quarterback last season. Offensive tackle also remains a need.
But Poles said Thieneman falling to No. 25 worked perfectly for the Bears. Thieneman was at the top of their board and also filled a position of need. He also fell into the character of prospect the Bears wanted to bring in, saying that Thieneman played with an urgency that popped out on film.
“This guy’s obsessed with football, he plays fast, he’s extremely fast, a great leader, violent in the way that he plays the game; everything that we’re looking for,” Poles said. “And 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, he can play strong, so really good fit for what we’re trying to do.”