Former Oregon State Safety Skyler Thomas Makes Chicago Bears 53-Man Roster
From 2021-2025, former Oregon State defensive back Skyler Thomas played in 49 college football games.
In less than two weeks, he might play in his first NFL regular season game. Yesterday, the Chicago Bears' undrafted free agent signing passed the final cut, making their initial 53-man roster.
Thomas' rise was meteoric. No Oregon State players - Thomas included - were invited to February's 2026 NFL Combine. In late April, he went undrafted, and signed a free agent contract with the Bears. Through one week of training camp in August, reporters spotted him taking first-team reps at safety.
The rookie's ascendancy coincides with an unfortunate injury to Chicago's starting safety Coby Bryant, a former Super Bowl champion with Seattle who inked a lucrative deal at the start of free agency. On August 3rd, the Bears' marquee free agent signing went down with a hyper-extended left knee during 1-on-1 drills. Following surgery, reports revealed that he would miss 4-to-6 months.
Bryant's departure immediately presented an opportunity for his teammates in the defensive backfield, as noted by Bears' defensive coordinator Dennis Allen earlier this month.
"In all adversity comes also opportunity, and so it'll be another opportunity for some other guys to step up, whether it be somebody in the safety room to step up and take on that role, or some of our other guys in the room to step up and become the playmakers and the leaders for the defense. I mean, it's part of football. It's part of what you deal with, and and you move on, you know?"
Allen's schemes are known for aggressive pressure packages, and his defense proved familiar enough for man-coverage disciple Trent Bray's former pupil Thomas. After logging snaps across three preseason games, Thomas finished the month as ProFootballFocus' 12th-highest graded rookie. Across 102 game snaps, Thomas did not miss a tackle. He also intercepted a pass from Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback Sean Clifford. He also saw time on special teams with 46 snaps, and accrued a 74.6 coverage grade, classified as good to great according to PFF methodology.
Before turning pro, Thomas played in 49 games for Oregon State, and was a team captain last season. He was born in San Mateo County (Redwood City, CA) on the peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area, and split time between Menlo-Atherton HS (Atherton, CA) and Heard County HS (Franklin, GA) before signing with Oregon State as a Georgia three star recruit.
The 6'2" 193 pound safety joins the Bears' defensive backfield alongside fellow safeties Dillon Thieneman, Xavier Woods, Cam Lewis, and Elijah Hicks.
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Matt fell in love with radio during his college days at Oregon Tech, and pursued a nine year career in sports broadcasting with Klamath Falls' and Medford's highest-rated sports radio stations. He currently lives in McMinnville wine country and is excited to talk about the Beavers again.