When the Chicago Bears selected Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, he was given an immediate pathway to become a starter. Given his higher projection than the No. 25 overall spot at which the Bears ended up selecting him, an impact right away wasn't just something that was a possibility but felt rather more likely considering the team's absence of depth at the position following the respective departures of Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard.
So it's in no way a surprise that Thieneman turned in an effort like he did on Monday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. Therein, he led the team in tackles and recorded the first interception of his career with the Bears backed up on their own two-yard line. One of his tackles was
a key stop of Saquon Barkley directly before his interception.
Through his first three games, Thieneman leads the team in tackles and is one of three defenders to record an interception. We know, however, that those common stats don't always illustrate the impact a player makes. Let's talk about where the rookie falls in the world of player grades and advanced statistics.
First is the polarizing Pro Football Focus. While PFF has had its issues with Bears quarterbacks this year, we can at least get a loose idea of where a player falls relative to their peers at a given position. Of course, grain of salt and all that.
In Thieneman's case, though, he currently sits as the 20th-ranked safety with an overall grade of 71.8. The higher end of his grade is in defending the run game, where he checks in at 72.8. His coverage grade is at 66.4. Overall, though, he's done enough to find himself in the top 20 at a position that currently features 89 ranked players.
That place in the context of PFF is supported by his actual work on the advanced side of things.
As a defender, many of the analytics available fall into percentile rankings. It's a more concrete way of illustrating where Thieneman stands among his peers, with the higher percentile indicating a higher place among the statistical performance indicators. In his case, Thieneman is in the 97th percentile in tackles per game (7.7). The percentile ranking does dip on the percentage of solo tackles (65.2 percent, 71st percentile), but that's to be expected given his position.
Additionally, Thieneman one interception puts him in the 97th percentile there, with his three passes defended and his one pass defended per game each sitting in the same. From a more generalized takeaway standpoint, he's in the 95th.
One of the more encouraging elements in the advanced stats is in the splash plays that Thieneman has accrued thus far. A splash is defined as any play that directly alters a game; forced fumbles, interceptions, tackles for loss, and passes defended are all among the categories which can be considered splash plays. Thieneman is at 1.33 splash plays per game, which puts in the 83rd percentile. That is a much more dynamic statistic than the others that still ranks Thieneman quite favorably among his defensive peers.
A couple of other important stats? Thieneman features a missed tackle rate of zero percent and has allowed a 36.4 percent completion rate when targeted. These don't necessarily fall under a qualifier in the analytical world, but they do provide additional context for how effective he's been that extends beyond a box score.
Ultimately, we're still at a three-game sample. That's hardly enough to make a true determination or read too much into where he sits in the various percentile rankings. The important thing at this stage, though, is that Thieneman is a factor all over the various leaderboards. He's been a central part of a defense that has started to find its way after a tough first week. It'll be interesting to see how his placement among his peers changes as the sample continues to grow.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Analytics indicate Bears rookie Dillon Thieneman is already thriving
