Dillon Thieneman is the first safety the Chicago Bears have drafted in the 1st round in 36 years. That distinction last belonged to Mark Carrier, who went 6th overall in 1990 and went on to make three Pro Bowls. One would think that after such success, the team would be more willing to try again. Yet for whatever reason, the Bears avoided taking safeties that early again. Such stubbornness eventually led to one of the worst draft mistakes the franchise has made in the past 30 years.
The 2003 draft was a good one for the Bears. It was the year they landed cornerback Charles Tillman and linebacker Lance Briggs. Unfortunately, the impact was softened by a brutal 1st round in which they took defensive end Michael Haynes and quarterback Rex Grossman. Both were disappointments. What people don’t remember is that it could’ve been one of the greatest drafts in franchise history. Just two picks after the Bears took Haynes, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected safety Troy Polamalu, an eventual Hall of Famer.
He also happens to be Thieneman’s idol.
Thieneman ultimately fell in love with chasing down ball carriers. His favorite player is safety Troy Polamalu, the Hall of Famer from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“(It’s) really his versatility,” Thieneman said. “I liked watching some of his interviews. If he knew where the ball was going, he would go switch positions with that player so he could be in on the play. So he could have an impact for the team. (It’s) just having the knowledge of the defense, but also the understanding of what the offense is trying to do.”
Dillon Thieneman clearly models his play after Polamalu.
Like the Steelers legend, he operates with a mixture of violence and cerebral intelligence. Thieneman is constantly directing traffic, getting teammates in position, and identifying what the offense is doing. Once he figures it out, he puts himself in the right spot to make a play. Polamalu was famous for that throughout his NFL career. Every time Pittsburgh needed a big play, the safety pulled off an interception or a timely sack to swing momentum in their favor. Thieneman was much the same. There was his huge game-sealing interception against Penn State or his interception to preserve the win against Washington and cement Oregon’s playoff seed.
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All one can do is wonder how different that Bears defense in the 2000s would’ve looked with Polamalu on the back end. He and Mike Brown could’ve formed an unbeatable tandem. Then, after Brown started getting hurt, the team still would’ve had Polamalu during that Super Bowl run in 2006. Things might’ve been significantly different in that game against Indianapolis had he been on the field. After all, he proved it the year before when he helped the Steelers upset the Colts in Indianapolis en route to a championship.
Thieneman can change the landscape of this defense.
People always say safeties aren’t as important as other positions on defense. In response to that, one should say that changes if you have a great one. We saw what Polamalu was to Pittsburgh. We also saw Ed Reed’s influence in Baltimore and Harrison Smith’s impact in Minnesota. Dillon Thieneman has that level of talent. This isn’t embellishment. He is a 6’0″, 200 lbs safety with 4.35 speed. That alone makes him unique. Throw in a quarterback-like ability to diagnose opposing offenses, and you start to see why the Bears broke their streak.
Then you have the coaching angle. Much of Polamalu’s success came from working under Hall of Fame defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, whose aggressive style allowed the safety to play his way. Dennis Allen is much the same way. Kevin Byard said as much last year. If that is true, Thieneman couldn’t have landed in a better situation. We saw what Polamalu was in LeBeau’s system. Now we might be getting ready to witness the sequel if things play out as expected.
