{"id":865535,"date":"2026-04-13T13:50:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/865535\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T13:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:50:06","slug":"cowboys-cant-ignore-versatile-safety-dillon-thieneman-at-no-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/865535\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys Can\u2019t Ignore Versatile Safety Dillon Thieneman at No. 12"},"content":{"rendered":"

With needs at nearly every position on defense, it\u2019s impossible to predict exactly what the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> will do during the first round of the 2026 NFL draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Listening to the coaching staff speak, however, gives you some insight as to the type of player they\u2019re searching for. Defensive coordinator Christian Parker has emphasized the importance of versatility, even using his first comments while being introduced to express a desire to be \u201cmultiple\u201d on defense<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Parker is an understudy to Vic Fangio, who was his defensive coordinator with the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles. The most important thing in those defenses wasn\u2019t the actual alignment, but the ability to move players pre-snap in an attempt to confuse opposing quarterbacks.<\/p>\n

Dallas has already added two players in free agency who fit this mold in Jalen Thompson and P.J. Locke. While both are listed at safety, they can each play in the slot as well. Considering Parker worked with Locke in the past<\/a>, it\u2019s safe to say he\u2019s a big fan of versatile safeties which is why the Cowboys can\u2019t ignore Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman at No. 12 overall.<\/p>\n

Dillon Thieneman could be Cowboys ultimate chess piece \"Oregon<\/p>\n

Oregon Ducks defensive back Dillon Thieneman intercepts a pass against the Washington Huskies. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Thieneman doesn\u2019t get the same attention as Ohio State\u2019s Caleb Downs, but he enters the league with a similar skill set. Thieneman is excellent in coverage, but also helps tremendously against the run. <\/p>\n

Ted Nguyen of The Athletic recently said Thieneman operates like a safety as well as a weak side linebacker<\/a>, which will make some defensive coordinator very happy. Draft analyst Trevor Sikkema is also a fan, calling Thieneman a top 10 player<\/a> in this class.<\/p>\n

As if that wasn\u2019t enough of a reason for the Cowboys to consider Thieneman, maybe NFL.com\u2019s Lance Zierlein\u2019s comment will be. Zierlein called Thieneman an \u201cextension of his defensive coordinator<\/a>\u201d while praising him for aligning the secondary with pre-snap shifts. That sounds like the exact player Parker needs to get this defense on the same page.<\/p>\n

Cowboys don\u2019t often take safeties early \"Dallas<\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams before the start of the game against the Philadelphia Eagles. | James Lang-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

One thing that can keep this pairing from happening is the lack of importance Jerry Jones has placed on safeties in the past.<\/p>\n

Jones hasn\u2019t selected a safety in Round 1 since Byron Jones in 2015, although he played both safety and cornerback. Since then, the Cowboys have only drafted three safeties, all in the sixth round<\/a>. Kavon Frazier (No. 212 in 2016), Xavier Woods (No. 191 in 2017), and Donovan Wilson (No. 213 in 2019).<\/p>\n

The last time they took a safety in the top 15 was in 2002 when they selected Roy Williams from Oklahoma. Thieneman, however, could be good enough to break that trend.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0Sign up for the Cowboys Daily Digest newsletter\u00a0<\/a>for more free coverage fromDallas Cowboys on SI<\/a>\u00a0\u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With needs at nearly every position on defense, it\u2019s impossible to predict exactly what the Dallas Cowboys will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-865535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-cowboys","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-dallascowboys","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116397724424594894","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}