What college does Dillon Thieneman play for?

2026-04-15 [Dolphins visit] — Miami hosted — target at #11 overall
2026-04-08 [Pro Day] — 4.48 40 at 6-0, 205 confirmed
2026-03-27 [All-Big Ten] — 1st-team All-Big Ten post-season as Oregon transfer

Buzz items pulled from beat-writer reports, ESPN/NFL.com transactions, Pro Day recaps, and verified Top 30 visit reports in the 30 days leading into the 2026 NFL Draft. Each linked headline goes to the original source. See our full draft-week news tab for cross-prospect timeline.

Scouting Nugget: Purdue transfer; rangy ball-hawk

Expanded bio coming soon. This prospect is Safetie #2 in the 2026 class.

Scouting Profile

Combine / Pro Day Measurables (reported)

40-yard dash	4.48
Vertical jump (in)	37.0
Broad jump	10'4"
Bench press (225 reps)	18 reps
3-cone drill	6.92
20-yard shuttle	4.15
Wingspan	76.5"
Hand size	9 5/8"

Numbers compiled from NFL Scouting Combine results, Pro Day box scores, and beat-writer reports. "Reported" means cross-referenced against multiple sources; verify on nfl.com/combine for definitive marks.

College Career Stats

2023 Purdue (Fr): 104 tackles (led B1G frosh), 6 INT, 6 PBU — Freshman All-American + Big Ten Frosh of Year
2024 Purdue (So): 89 tackles, 2 INT, 5 PBU
2025 Oregon (Jr, transfer): 74 tackles, 4 INT, 9 PBU, 2 FF — All-Big Ten

Strengths

Generational instincts — diagnoses concepts pre-snap and triggers at top speed
True three-level safety — deep middle, robber, or box without losing effectiveness
Pro-ready tackler — angle, form, finish all NFL-graded
Ball-hawk production — 12 INTs across three CFB seasons
Vocal leader — captain at Purdue, then immediate Oregon defensive signal-caller as a transfer

Weaknesses / Areas to Develop

Top-end speed is good not elite (4.48 vs the sub-4.4 alpha tier)
Frame is average for the position — take-on power is just adequate
Position value at safety could push him to mid-R1 even if tape says top-10

NFL Pro Comparison

Julian Love — versatile, instinct-driven safety with three-level utility and Pro Bowl-caliber production from Day 1

Mock-Draft Consensus

ESPN (Jordan Reid)	PFF Big Board	Jeremiah Top 50	Consensus Avg	Realistic Range
#17	#11	—	#14.0	Picks 10-20

30-day trend: Rising — Dolphins/49ers fits

Ranks cross-referenced from ESPN's Jordan Reid top-500, PFF's 2026 Big Board top-200, and Daniel Jeremiah's top-50 (NFL.com). Realistic draft-night range reflects projected team fit and trade scenarios, not just big-board placement.

Advanced Stats & Production

2025 PFF coverage	87.6
PFF run defense	82.3
Missed-tackle rate	5.2%
Catch rate allowed	46%
INT+PBU	13 (4 INT / 9 PBU)

Metrics blended from PFF grade sheets, school box scores, and Combine/Pro Day box scores. Position-specific: QB shows efficiency + turnover rates, WR/TE show route-running + contested-catch, OL shows pass-block grade + pressures allowed, EDGE/IDL show pass-rush win rate + pressure rate, LB/DB show coverage grade + missed-tackle rate.

Outcome Range

Floor: Multi-time Pro Bowl free safety — decade starter
Median: Top-3 NFL safety — All-Pro in best years
Ceiling: Generational ball-hawk — multi-time All-Pro / DPOY contender

Scheme Fit

Cover-3 / quarters base with frequent disguise — Spagnuolo / Macdonald / Fangio scheme that uses safety as a chess piece

Pre-Draft Visits

Top-30 visits with the Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, and Cincinnati Bengals

Signature College Game

2025 Big Ten Championship vs Penn State: 11 tackles, 1 INT, 1 FF — single-handedly closed out Oregon's title win

Sources

Our scouting profile is assembled from these primary sources + cross-checked against ESPN (Kiper / Reid / Miller), PFF's 2026 Big Board, Dane Brugler's The Beast 2026, and Daniel Jeremiah's top-50. See our full methodology and citations.

Day 2 / Day 3 Team Fits

NFL teams that lost a same-position veteran this offseason — and could target Dillon Thieneman as a Day 2/3 replacement option.

REPORTED Carolina Panthers: moved on from Xavier Woods (cover-safety).
Picks held: R1 #19; R2 #51

Confidence: "VERIFIED" departures cite a publication URL (Spotrac, OverTheCap, ESPN, NFL.com, team transactions page) confirming the move and date. "REPORTED" entries come from public free-agency trackers without a single canonical source we could attach. Fits are archetype-and-position based; we are not claiming the team has expressed interest in the prospect.

NFL Scheme Fit

Quarters-coverage hybrid safety role
Green Bay Packers · Atlanta Falcons · New York Jets

Scheme matches are bucketed from the prospect's height, weight, and (for WRs) archetype tag against a static lookup of which NFL teams currently run each scheme family.

Rookie Contract & Landing-Spot Outlook

Projected Rookie Contract Value

~$20.0M – $52.0M (4-year deal) · Pick range: #1-15 · ~100% guaranteed

Mid-pick band — guarantee % varies pick-to-pick

Best-Case / Worst-Case Landing Spot

BEST CASE: Washington Commanders · #7
Why: S listed in their top-5 positional needs.
Year-1 arc: Day-1 starter window with cap-controlled rookie-contract production.

WORST CASE: New Orleans Saints · #8
Why: S not in their stated top-5 needs; runs a scheme that doesn't naturally amplify his profile.
Year-1 arc: Depth-chart competition + special-teams reps as Year-1 baseline.

Contract band uses the 2026 NFL CBA rookie wage scale projected from the prospect's expected pick range; guarantee % is the slot-default at that pick. Landing-spot best/worst case is derived from TEAMS data (positional needs + scheme overlap minus same-position R1 conflicts) — not a claim that either team has expressed interest.

By the Numbers — 2026 Class Context

Frame: Among 2026 S prospects, his 6-0 / 205 lbs frame sits at the 62nd percentile in height and 76th percentile in weight.
Position class: Dillon Thieneman is S #2 of 21 ranked Ss in the 2026 class. Of those, 3 are projected in the R1 range.
School pipeline: One of 9 Oregon prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft — but the only S.

Computed factually from the 2026 prospect class roster — height/weight percentiles benchmark this player against every other ranked prospect at the same position. Recruiting arc compares his high-school 247Sports/Rivals composite to his current projected round.