Possible Bengals 2026 NFL Draft Target Declares For Next Level

Cincinnati may have a need at this position.

Oregon defensive back Dillon Thieneman carries the ball as the Oregon Ducks practice on Jan. 5, 2025, at the Moshofsky Center in Eugene, Oregon, ahead of the Peach Bowl. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — A possible Bengals target to start Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft just officially declared for the event on Wednesday. Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman is widely considered the second-best safety in the draft and a top-50 player overall.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported he is ready to hear his name called this April.

"Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman is leaving school early to declare for the NFL Draft, he tells ESPN. He’s one of the NFL Draft’s top safeties and a projected Top 50 pick. Thieneman earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2025 and second-team All-American honors," Thamel wrote on X.

The rangy playmaker transferred to Oregon from Purdue this past season and notched 64 total tackles (31 solo), two interceptions, and four pass deflections. It rounded out to a 91 Pro Football Focus grade across a career-high 812 snaps on defense.

He is ranked 46th overall and second among safeties behind Ohio State's Caleb Downs on The Mock Draft Database's consensus big board. The Bengals could target him with the 41st pick.

"The one thing we really need is we need those guys or somebody else to take on a leadership role and demand the accountability and demand the execution," Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said about the defense last week. "We need more leadership. We have tons of leadership on the offensive side of the ball. We need somebody, multiple people, to step up and lead that group from within our team. And it could come from the outside, and it could come from the inside. We can get improvement from both of those areas. We can get improvement and play from the inside, which I see happening, and we can get improvement from the outside, be it the draft, free agency, or however we want to attack it.

All of the draft action kicks off on April 23, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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