NFL Draft Grades: Chicago Bears’ Dillon Thieneman gets an A

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 23: Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman celebrates after being chosen 25th overall by the Chicago Bears in the green room during the the first round NFL football draft at Acrisure Stadium on April 23, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) | Getty Images The first round of the NFL Draft broke perfectly for the Chicago Bears when Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman fell. The Bears were able to stay at 25 and draft the best player available while filling a roster hole.

“It just happened for this one that the sequence landed right on a need,” General Manager Ryan Poles said about their draft board. “So he’s (Thieneman) going to have the ability to come in and compete for a starting role, and obviously that’s going to be an open spot where those guys are going to compete, and the tape tells us he’s going to have a really good opportunity to do that. But this was a really cool opportunity where again a need and best player available fell the way that we needed it to.

” The Bears needed a starting safety to play next to Coby Bryant, and Thieneman is one of the best and most versatile prospects to come around in a while. We asked our fans to grade the pick, and most of you went with an A, which is how I voted. Chicago’s defense got better yesterday, and following the pick, the Bears are +2,500 to win the Super Bowl, per FanDuel Sportsbook .

Let’s take a look around the interwebs to see how some analysts graded the pick. “Thieneman can play as a center fielder,” wrote NFL. com’s Chad Reuter while giving the pick an A, “but he’s versatile enough to move into the box as a run defender.