2026 NFL Scouting Report: Dillon Thieneman

Prospect Summary:

Over the past three seasons, Thieneman has been one of the most productive safeties in college football. In 2023, Thieneman had an excellent debut for Purdue, totaling 106 tackles with two forced fumbles, six interceptions, and two passes defended. The next season, he stayed consistent as a tackler with 104 stops while also breaking up six passes. For the 2025 season, Thieneman transferred to Oregon and had a quality final season with the Ducks. He totaled 92 tackles with two interceptions, five passes broken up, and one sack. Thieneman showed excellent speed at the NFL Scouting Combine and interviewed well with teams.

In pass coverage, Thieneman is a versatile safety who can help in all areas of the field and execute the different requirements for a safety. With excellent deep speed, athleticism, and intelligence, Thieneman can be the deep single free safety to defend the deep part of the field. He has excellent range and covers a lot of ground. Thieneman has impressive ball skills to defend passes downfield and is dangerous to create turnovers with his ball awareness. As a deep centerfielder, Thieneman has natural ability.

Thieneman can also cover the short part of the field as a strong safety playing zone. He has quality route recognition and covers a lot of ground. With his speed and athleticism, Thieneman shows some ability to line up against slot receivers and cover them as a nickel. He does a nice job early in the route, but as routes extend, wideouts can generate some separation from Thieneman. That issue will get more pronounced versus pro receivers, so Thieneman should be used as a slot corner exclusively.

As a run defender, Thieneman is a solid contributor and good tackler. Sometimes he will miss from being overaggressive, but he does not miss tackles from poor technique. He comes downhill quickly and has no hesitation to cut down on backs. Thieneman is not a big safety, and he could stand to add some weight to tackle in the NFL. If his pro team wants him to play a lot of strong safety, he should definitely get stronger for tackling pro backs and improve his ability to get off blocks.

Thieneman projects as a player capable of starting early in his pro career, and if he stays healthy, he should have a long and productive career. In the 2026 NFL Draft, Thieneman looks like a first- or second-round pick. Check out my latest 2026 NFL Mock Draft to see where Thieneman is projected.