Purdue Football: Dillon Thieneman is a Boilermaker!

Dillon Thieneman, a 3*, 6’0”, 200 pound safety out of Westfield High School in Westfield Indiana signed his name on the dotted line this morning and is officially a Boilermaker.

Dillon held 8 offers in addition to Purdue, including Indiana, Minnesota, and Northwestern. Rivals considers him the 14th best player in the state of Indiana. 247 Sports has him as the 12th best player in Indiana and the 69th best safety prospect in the nation.

Highlights

Dillon is the epitome of a high school safety. He mainly plays deep middle for Westfield and is adept at reading routes and making plays on the ball. When he’s not ball hawking from his safety spot, he’s stepping into the box and bringing down ball carriers. His ability to break down, wrap up, and get runners on the ground has a single tear running down my cheek at the moment.

To further highlight his athletic ability, he also moonlights as a running back/wide receiver when his team needs points. He shows solid hands and nice open field speed. I look forward to seeing him use those skills to take a few interceptions to the house. I’ve seen a few of his games (on film) and think his feel for the game could earn him early playing time. He always seems to be in the right spot to make a play, and Purdue needs playmakers on the back end of the defense sooner, rather than later.

Purdue Comp

Jacob Thieneman

You probably remember his brother Jacob (his brother Brennan also played for Purdue). He started his career as a walk-on at Purdue and ended it as a starter. He went on to have a cup of coffee in the NFL. The entire Thieneman clan has a nose for the ball, understands angles, and can tackle. Tackling, in particular, is their calling card, and Dillon may be the best of the bunch in terms of abruptly ending the journey of a runner.