Early in his tenure at Oregon, at fall camp in 2022, Dan Lanning told the media, "The best teams are player-led teams." Something that he witnessed at Georgia and Alabama, coaching two great defenses.
The 2024 Oregon defense is about to become stunning proof of the power of that adage. Between them, senior linebacker Bryce Boettcher and Purdue transfer at safety Dillon Thieneman have 341 tackles over the last two seasons.
Now they've joined forces, and there's mutual respect. Boettcher said about Thieneman this spring, "Professionalism is the perfect way to put it. Like this morning, I was in the treatment room at 5:15. He was already in the tub, shirt off, warming up. I was like 'dude, you go practice already?' You know he's about it on and off the field. He's one of a kind from what I've seen so far."
Boettcher is the highest-graded returning linebacker in college football, the only one with PFF grades above 80 against the run and the pass.
Oregon LB Bryce Boettcher Last Season:
— PFF College (@PFF_College) March 31, 2025
🟢 83.0 Run Defense Grade
🟢 84.4 Coverage Grade
🟢 84.5 Pass Rush Grade
ONLY Returning LB with 80+ Grades in Every Category pic.twitter.com/9wfCgITgNW
Free to concentrate on football after multiple seasons of being a two-sport athlete, Boettcher told the media yesterday he's up ten pounds to 230 as he prepares for his extra year. The added power and strength give him the physical edge he needs to bust up into the hole against the run, vital when the Ducks take on plus-size running backs like Kaytron Allen (5-11, 229) and Nicholas Singleton (6-0, 227) of Penn State, or Jonah Coleman at Washington (5-9, 229.)
Tuesday Boettcher said about returning, "I love my Ducks. I love my hometown and if I had another year of eligibility and didn't use it I feel like I'd regret it down the road. Nowadays in college football it's oftentimes beneficial to do that, so that's why I did it."
In Thieneman, he has the perfect foil to match his intensity.
Will likely be one of the Best Safeties in the Country next year. Dillon Thieneman is DUDE. Would fill the Rover role in Tony White’s defense perfectly and likely start the year as the best player on the roster if he were to end up at FSU (purely speculating) https://t.co/mSIef21zGH pic.twitter.com/cE3tGFQtPa
— Clay Fink (@clay_fink) December 4, 2024
The 6-0, 207 West Lafayette native ranked as the No. 6 player in the transfer portal according to Rivals. These two have the desire, ability and experience to transform the Oregon defense into a corps, taking the young talent Lanning has stacked up over the last three seasons and making them into a unit with one goal.
Talking about Boettcher as a senior leader, Lanning said Tuesday, "I still want to hear his voice out there at practice even more and more. It's always showing up as a player, right? But that's not, that's not something that's new to Bryce, so I have high expectations for what he looks like on the field and continue to challenge him to keep pushing. But he's been a really good player for us and a really good leader for us."
After two years battling on a struggling team at Purdue, Thieneman has the opportunity to work and train in a professional environment, blessed with top facilities, training, support and coaching. For him, this is a chance to be reborn as a winner and a champion while finishing his preparation for the NFL.
And now, everything these two do is multiplied by the power of two. The best defenses are player-led, and Oregon has two of the best leaders in the country.