Dennis Allen Explains What Makes Bears S Dillon Thieneman an Eraser
Armed with 4.35 speed and elite range, rookie safety Dillon Thieneman assumes a vital role in Chicago's secondary following a wave of injuries and free-agent departures.
Video Transcript
Grant Bricker here for Bears on Roundtable.
The Chicago Bears have a unique player in safety Dylan Thieneman, who has received plenty of attention this off-season, especially after the recent injury to fellow safety Coby Bryant, who was brought in to, start alongside him after the Bears lost both Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker in free agency.
The Bears drafted Thieneman twenty-fifth overall out of Oregon and then signed Coby Bryant in free agency.
Then unfortunately, Bryant suffered a pretty serious knee injury during training camp and is now expected to miss anywhere from four to six months.
This is going to put a lot of responsibility on a player like Thieneman, who is about to start his first season in the NFL with the Chicago Bears.
Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen spoke to the media recently and talked about, the strengths that Thieneman brings to this secondary.
We already know that he, has played a lot of-- lined up in a lot of different positions in college, split between Oregon and Purdue, where he, played more than just safety, as he also got time at cornerback in the slot and even, got as close inside in the box and was even, on the defensive line at one point as well.
But there's another aspect of his game that, is making Dennis Allen very excited to get to work with him, and that is the speed he brings to the back half of the secondary.
For Thieneman, he ran a four three five forty-yard dash, which means he can cover a, a lot of distance in a short amount of time.
Allen even went as far to call Thieneman an eraser and explained what he meant by that.
With a guy like Thieneman, you can, usually be a little more lenient on your-- with your outside corners, knowing that there's a safety in the back half of the secondary who can help them up top if the defense tries to beat them deep.
With Thieneman, he is able to erase the distance between him and the ball, which is very valuable for this Bears defense.
Thieneman is going to have a lot on his plate as a rookie after the Bears, had Bryant go down with that injury, but he, has the speed and the experience at multiple positions to make the Bears feel confident about his abilities.
