Background
Dillon Thieneman grew up in Westfield, Indiana, and attended Westfield High School, where he followed in the footsteps of his two older brothers, both of whom played at Purdue. A three-star recruit, he signed with the Boilermakers over offers from Indiana, Minnesota, Northwestern, and others. His freshman season in 2023 was spectacular: 106 tackles, 6 interceptions, and 2 forced fumbles, all of which led all freshmen nationally. He earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Freshman All-American honors. He followed up with another productive sophomore season in 2024, though Purdue's struggles as a team overshadowed his individual performance. In 2025, he ultimately transferred to Oregon to play under Dan Lanning, and the locker room quickly welcomed him. He earned First-Team All-Big Ten and First-Team All-American honors, picking off 2 more passes while recording 99 tackles and 4 pass breakups across 12 games. Career totals across three seasons at two schools: over 300 tackles and 8 interceptions. He declared for the 2026 NFL Draft as a 21-year-old junior.
Physical Attributes
Thieneman is a phenomenal athlete. And even though his testing shows just in a straight line, he is just as much of one on a multi-planar assessment. He was my second best on field drill performer at the combine with a score of 9 out of 10. His best drills were actually some of the most direction change heavy drills: the W and the Teryl Austin Drill #2. A little light for the position, Thieneman has solid strength, but with how filled out he already looks, there is a worry he cannot add much more muscle mass.
Data and Tape Analysis
If you are unfamiliar with my S radar charts, you can find more information here
Thieneman is a great all-around safety. He plays both the run and the pass very well, and has great athleticism and a very good football IQ. The radar chart primarily illustrates this, so let's examine how Thieneman achieved this.
Let's focus on the run first, as I strongly disagree with PFF's rating and think Thieneman deserves much greater recognition. With the bad first, Thieneman sometimes lets go of his aggressiveness in the tackle and lets the play come to him. When that happens, he gets run over, he had that happen to him to the tune of two TDs against Indiana. Though when he is driving towards the ball carrier, he flattens them with the power behind him. He usually has that because Thieneman comes down from the top of the defense like a screaming banshee with his hair on fire. With his play ID and feel for navigating blocks, it usually leads to great results, but sometimes leads to overpursuit.
Speaking of pursuit, Thieneman has clean angles that help him get to the ball carrier efficiently. He does struggle to approximate high-end speed though and gets himself in a poor position to make a play. Those routes often become more curved than linear.
In coverage, Thieneman can hold his own in man or in zone. He is definitely a better zone defender because of his feel, and it allows him to use his vision and reactions. When all three line up, it's easy to see how he had eight interceptions in 39 career games with 16 pass defenses too. He affects plays by closing from the top as quickly as he does. In man coverage, he does a superb job staying in phase throughout the play. More nuanced route runners get him to bite, and he can get back into play, but he takes a second to get back to where he needs to be.
Grade and Outlook
A three-year starter at the P4 level, and two years at a team where he got a ton of experience at Purdue, and who will turn only 22 the month before the season, Thieneman has everything you want out of a safety prospect. He can still learn to cool his jets a bit to become a more consistent force in the run game, but with so little to work on, I would bet we have yet to see anywhere near the best of him. Potential to be a top three to five safety in the league in his prime.
Grade: 6.4 (Late 1st Rounder / Early 2nd Rounder)
