25. Cincinnati Bengals: Dillon Thieneman, SAF, Oregon
The Cincinnati Bengals can’t really afford to be picky here. They simply need to take the best defensive player on their board. The Bengals gave up 30 passing touchdowns last season, which was good for 29th in the NFL. They obviously have a chance to change the narrative here in 2025, but there are obvious question marks on the back end.
There are a couple of key players set to hit free agency this offseason for the Bengals with Cam Taylor-Britt and Geno Stone entering contract years. We could see an emphasis on the secondary in the upcoming NFL Draft and Dillon Thieneman would be returning to Big Ten country after transferring from Purdue to Oregon this offseason.
Thieneman had over 200 tackles in his first two years at Purdue and six interceptions as a freshman. He’s a playmaker on the back end and a physical presence.
26. San Francisco 49ers: Caleb Lomu, OT, Utah
We saw a tremendous emphasis on the defensive side of the footbal in the 2025 offseason for the San Francisco 49ers, but it was desperately needed. The 49ers not only revamped the player personnel on their defense after losing the likes of Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga, and Charvarius Ward (among others), but they also brought in Robert Saleh after he was fired by the Jets to be their defensive coordinator.
And that’s a sequel that could really help this team a ton.
After the tremendous focus on the defensive side of the ball in the 2025 offseason, we should see a shift back to the offense in 2026 for the 49ers, especially looking at some new pieces on that offensive line. It might be time to start planning for life after Trent Williams, and it looks like this might be the draft class to do exactly that.