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Historic Chicago Bears First-Round Pick Provides Exact Fit in Key Ways

Safety Dillon Thieneman not only is the second-best player at his position in this draft but at No. 25 he is exactly what they needed to fill out their lineup card.
Gene Chamberlain|
Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman celebrates being the 25th pick in Round 1 by the Bears.
Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman celebrates being the 25th pick in Round 1 by the Bears. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Ben Johnson apparently learned something from watching the Bears move up and down the field at will against the 49ers last year only to get outscored 42-38.

It's something he should have realized when his Lions offenses piled up points but sometimes lost high-scoring games.

The lesson is defense is sometimes necessary, and as a result the Bears selected Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman in the first round at No. 25 in the 2026 NFL Draft.

It's a historic pick for the Bears in a way, and one they needed simply to fill their only vacant starting spot.

Not only was it the first Bears defensive player drafted in Round 1 since Roquan Smith in 2018, but the Bears hadn't drafted a safety in the first round since the Mike Ditka coaching era, when they selected Mark Carrier with the sixth overall pick of the 1990 draft and infuriated the league when they had him agree to terms even before the pick was announced.

They knew ahead of time none of the first five teams would take Carrier and were able to negotiate with his agent ahead of the draft, a practice banned before the next draft because the Bears had done this.

Thieneman put a stamp on his draft pedigree with a splendid combine. He displayed great speed at the combine with a time of 4.35 seconds, a time faster than any player on the Bears roster ran. He had a 41-inch vertical leap.

Thieneman was no workout wonder as his production was solid as well. He had eight interceptions, although six came as a freshman at Purdue. He left Purdue for Oregon after his sophomore season and finished with 106 tackles for his career.

This is a pick Dennis Allen ordered up. The Bears' defensive coordinator is known or coveting speed and versatility in the secondary and after the addition of free agent safety Coby Bryant he has it in abundance.

The Bears haven't had more than 40 sacks in a season since they had 49 in 2021, when Robert Quinn set the team record with 18 1/2. They made 35 last year, but making matters worse was how they finished 27th against the run a year after they were 28th. Just a year earlier they ranked No. 1 against the run.

Making the pick at safety leaves the Bears vulnerable still along the defensive front. They need edg rush help and a defensive tackle. The coverage speed they have won't matter much if the quartrback has forever to throw the ball. Besides failing to go over 40 sacks for the fourth straight year, they also finished 27 and 28th the last two years at stopping the run.

There will be some who question the wisdom of taking a safety when there are obvious issues up front.

In taking Thieneman, they decided against two larger defensive ends who could have fit their scheme in Auburn's Keldric Faulk and Missouri's Zion Young, as well as Ohio State defensive tackle Kayden McDonald, who could have helped on the ground.

Still, it's hard to find much fault when you get a starter, the second player at his position in this draft after Oregon's Caleb Downs, as well as someone so athletically gifted. A team that led te NFL in takeaways last year found another weapon to keep the takeaway train rolling even aftr letting safeties Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker leave in free agency.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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