Freshman Dillon Thieneman playing like fifth-year senior in debut campaign

As the first year of the Ryan Walters era continues, there has been somewhat of a youth movement in the Purdue secondary. A pair of true freshman defensive backs have solidified starting spots with another rookie outside linebacker carving out a role with the second unit.

Defensive coordinator Kevin Kane has been wowed by those true freshmen defenders, Dillon Thieneman, Derrick Rogers Jr., and Will Heldt, so far in 2023.

"We got some good young freshmen," Kane said of the youngsters. "The stage ain't too big and they're gonna make mistakes and they're gonna have their issues but you know what, they're gonna fight while doing so."

"These freshmen, man. I tell you what, they are the consummate professionals right now. They're going to work and every day it's a new day. They don't look back at what they did. It's always about how can they work and get better from what they've done," defensive coordinator Kevin Kane said.

At the forefront of that movement is true freshman phenom and breakout star of Purdue's defense, Dillon Thieneman.

Thieneman, a former three-star recruit, came to West Lafayette carrying the family legacy that his older brothers established before him. Under the previous regime, Jacob and Brennan Thieneman were always praised as hard workers who showed up and did their job, while entering the program as walk-ons and turning into contributors by the end of their respective Boilermaker careers.

That discipline and hard work was expected out of the third Thieneman brother to call West Lafayette home for his collegiate career. What wasn't expected, at least from the outside, was the level that he'd rise to in just a short time on campus.

For months, we heard about the strides Thieneman had been making in winter workouts, then spring practice, then fall camp. We hadn't seen it on the field, however. Once September rolled around, it didn't take long for the world to see what Purdue's coaching staff had been saying for months.

Thieneman has burst onto the scene like very few Purdue freshmen have done before him. The likes of George Karlaftis, Rondale Moore and David Bell all enjoyed massive success in their debuts seasons in recent memory and now Thieneman shares that same distinction.

Thieneman is second in the country with 41 solo tackles through six games this season, which also leads the Big Ten. His three interceptions are tied for eight most this season and just one off the season-high nationally, as well.

Additionally, Thieneman has the second-highest Pro Football Focus grade (81.5) on the Purdue defense. That production has resulted in a pair of Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors for the Purdue safety.

Ryan Walters and Kevin Kane have entrusted Thieneman with the free safety role in the Boilermakers' Air Strike defense, where he has played the second-most snaps of any Purdue defender behind only team captain Sanoussi Kane.

All of the success Purdue has seen from Thieneman on the field hasn't really been a surprise for the coaching staff, who say he has conducted himself like a fifth-year senior off the field, which has set him up for success between the lines.

"This is a true freshman that's playing confident that way, but he's confident because of the way he prepares. He's always in O'Brien's office watching quarterback operation time, seeing who the deep threats are, getting formation tendencies," head coach Ryan Walters said.

"At practices he's calling it out. He's practicing full speed. You go in the weight room and like Dillon could be in there by himself with a workout plan and you know he's going to attack every rep with everything he's got with no supervision because that's who he is, the way he lives his life," Walters said.

No matter what it is that Thieneman is trying to accomplish, Walters, safeties coach Grant O'Brien and coaching staff are having a hard time trying to find a glaring area he needs to work on moving forward.

"What's unique about Dillon, man, I was teasing O'Brien the other day. It's like he was created in a lab somewhere. You try to find things in his game, things in his personality, things in his life where you're like, oh, he needs to pick it up in this area. We get the grade report and his lowest grade right now is a 99," Walters said.

Thieneman has found himself in the right place at the right time, but it's not an accident. The rookie defensive back's attention to detail and discipline with his assignments have been second to none, according to Kane.

"He just does things like you don't have to tell him twice, he's gonna get it done. And that's, you know, a credit to him again, like that's how he was raised. That's how he's always played the game. That's how he's attacked that position since he's gotten here."

Some players may start feeling themselves a bit with all of the accolades and notoriety that heads Thieneman's way, but Kevin Kane hasn't seen any of that out of his star defensive back. Kane shared that he thinks Thieneman has been a prime example for what it means to be a Boilermaker this season.

"That has not changed. Sometimes you see kids kind of see their name in the limelight and they're like, okay, they relax. He doesn't do that, you know, he just continues to put his head down and work. And that's kind of the Boilermaker mentality, we just got to go out and work," Kane said.

Ryan Walters is coming off a stint in which he helped coach four NFL Draft picks in the Illinois secondary over the last two years, one of which was a top five pick in Devon Witherspoon.

Despite having seen that talent up close and personal, the Boilermakers' head coach doesn't think he's coached anyone that can compare to Thieneman at this point, which may be an indicator for a long, long career on the gridiron.

"Have I coached anybody him before? No, I haven't. Not at 18. Not as talented as he is. Not with the work ethic and the hunger that he has," Walters said. "If I was a betting man I would say he's got a long time to play football."