{"id":873535,"date":"2026-04-24T13:30:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873535\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T13:30:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:30:34","slug":"chicago-bears-select-safety-dillon-thieneman-from-oregon-with-no-25-pick-in-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873535\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Bears select safety Dillon Thieneman from Oregon with No. 25 pick in 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage<\/a> of the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Bears selected Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman with the 25th pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> on Thursday night. He was the second safety selected.<\/p>\n

Thieneman was everywhere the Ducks defense needed him \u2014 deep middle, in the box or over the slot \u2014 and he had a knack for arriving when outcomes hung in the balance. He capped his lone season at Oregon with All-American and All-Big Ten honors, punctuated by two game-sealing interceptions against Penn State and Washington.<\/p>\n

Across three college seasons, the first two of which were at Purdue, Thieneman paired steady production with durability to pile up 306 tackles while averaging nearly eight per start. His range and anticipation allow him to cover ground on the back end, while his willingness to trigger downhill makes him an active presence against the run. Though he may not be the most explosive athlete and can be inconsistent with tackling angles, his versatility and general feel for the game give him the profile of a scheme-friendly safety.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Beast\u2019 breakdown<\/p>\n

Thieneman ranked No. 18 in Dane Brugler\u2019s top 300 big board<\/a>. Here\u2019s what Brugler said about Thieneman in his annual NFL Draft guide<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThieneman reminds me of Justin Reid because of his scheme-friendly recognition skills and eagerness to get busy as a run defender. He projects as a durable NFL starter and has versatility that should appeal to a variety of defensive structures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coaching intel<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what a Big Ten offensive coordinator said in Bruce Feldman\u2019s mock draft<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has really good ball skills, so you\u2019ve always got to pay attention to where he\u2019s at. He\u2019s very physical as that middle guy in their three-high safety defense, and he did a great job of filling once he read that it was run. He\u2019s really versatile.\u201d \u2014 Big Ten offensive coordinator<\/p>\n

Scott Dochterman grades the pick<\/p>\n

The Bears completely turned over their safety corps this offseason, and one of the top prospects dropped in their laps. He can do it all for the Bears. He\u2019s a hitter, can cover anyone, and he\u2019s from Indiana (perhaps the Bears\u2019 future home?). This is a big-time win for GM Ryan Poles. It\u2019s my favorite pick of the first round.<\/p>\n

Thieneman (6-foot, 201 pounds) had a productive three-year career \u2014 two at Purdue, one at Oregon. He was a freshman All-American in 2023 after intercepting six passes. Last year, he earned second-team All-American honors with seven breakups and two interceptions. He was uber-productive as a tackler with 306 in his three seasons. Plus, he ran a 4.35-second 40-yard dash and benched 225 pounds 18 times at the combine with a 41-inch vertical jump. Grade: A+<\/p>\n

Austin Mock\u2019s assessment<\/p>\n

Thieneman falls to the Bears at 25. Solid value for the Bears as Thieneman ranked 17th on our consensus big board. The Bears invested heavily on offense in last year\u2019s draft; they go defense early this year. I would have preferred some help on the defensive line, but Thieneman should help against the pass and the run.<\/p>\n

How he fits<\/p>\n

Thieneman has the playmaking ability and versatility to fit nicely into Dennis Allen\u2019s defense. He can be a chess piece for Allen. He has the speed and physicality to make plays in space, while showing a nose for the ball. In three-safety looks, he\u2019d play the \u201crobber\u201d position, a sign he can do a bunch of different things for Allen. \u2014 Kevin Fishbain<\/p>\n

Depth-chart impact<\/p>\n

This was the easiest first-round pick to insert in the depth chart. Thieneman should start right away next to free-agent prize addition Coby Bryant. With Bryant entering the first year of his contract, the Bears should be set at safety for several seasons, with two players who grade quite highly. Thieneman\u2019s ability to do a bunch of things also means he could slot in at nickel if the Bears needed (or wanted) him to. We\u2019ve seen Allen employ a dime defense with six defensive backs, and he\u2019ll be able to do a lot of things with Thieneman. \u2014 Fishbain<\/p>\n

They also could have picked \u2026<\/p>\n

The other top safety, Toledo\u2019s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, was still on the board. He had a couple of injuries in college, and Thieneman outrated him with his versatility and athleticism. The Bears also could have targeted the defensive line. Edge rushers T.J. Parker and Zion Young were on the board, as well as defensive tackles Peter Woods and Kayden McDonald. They also could have gone with a left tackle like Caleb Lomu. But none of those players would have been a surefire, Day 1 starter like Thieneman. \u2014 Fishbain<\/p>\n

Fast evaluation<\/p>\n

Based on what we knew about this draft class and the Bears\u2019 needs, this was a no-brainer. Thieneman doesn\u2019t have a whole lot of weaknesses, and the Bears had a giant hole at safety next to Bryant. He has strong football character, crushed the combine \u2014 he ranked in the 97th percentile with his athletic testing. As director of college scouting Breck Ackley said, Thieneman checked every box, and the Bears didn\u2019t have any questions about what he will bring to Halas Hall. \u2014 Fishbain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 NFL Draft. The Chicago Bears selected Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,692,391,2493,7,6,575],"class_list":{"0":"post-873535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-bears","11":"tag-chicagobears","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-oregon-ducks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116459931174422200","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873535","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=873535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}