Oregon Ducks' Dillon Thieneman, Makhi Hughes Ranked Among Top-50 Players in College Football

Thieneman is the highest-ranked Oregon player by PFF, sitting at No. 25. The junior safety joins coach Dan Lanning’s program after two seasons with the Purdue Boilermakers.

“We found it was going to be in my best interest to leave (Purdue) and find where I could get proper coaching, proper development, where I can go against some of the best competition in the country. Coach Lanning and this staff, how they develop guys, what their system is, how their system is related to the NFL, type of guys we're going against, like speed coaches, like coach (Kyle) Bolton, Coach (Wilson), love, like all of them. I just settled on this place.”Thieneman

The safety had a standout freshman season with the Boilermakers, earning an 89.5 overall PFF grade. His overall grade took a dip as a sophomore, as his free safety snap rate dropped, with his PFF score going down to 72.4. Still, Thieneman led all Big Ten defensive backs with 104 tackles last season, also tallying seven pass breakups and one sack.

Thieneman is the No. 3 safety on PFF’s list, only behind Ohio State Buckeye Caleb Downs and Minnesota Gopher Koi Perich.

Hughes joins Thieneman on the list at No. 37 overall and the No. 4 running back. Like the Ducks’ safety, Hughes is also a notable transfer, coming from the Tulane Green Wave.

The transfer running back exploded for 15 touchdowns last season, recording 1,401 yards (949 after contact) on 265 carries. He holds a 92.2 overall career PFF rank, which PFF says is only second to the Washington Huskies’ Jonah Coleman for returning running backs.

“Ultimately, the goal for us is, again, to make sure we have enough guys that can play a winning level of football,” Lanning told ESPN’s Greg McElroy on “Always College Football.” “And there’s a kind of number that we really want in that running back room, and felt we had an opportunity to get a good player in Makhi.”

PFF notes that Hughes’ 1,982 rushing yards after contact in his first two seasons of college football only trail former Boise State Bronco, Ashton Jeanty, and former North Carolina Tar Heel, Omarion Hampton, during that span. Both running backs were selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Aug. 30 will be the first in-game action for both Thieneman and Hughes in an Oregon uniform. Whether or not their PFF grades and impressive numbers from previous stops carry over to the Ducks, or those stats improve, is still to be seen.

Many other national experts seem to believe what PFF predicts, however, with a lot of 2026 NFL mock drafts predicting Thieneman to go in the first round next spring and for Hughes to be one of the first running backs off the board.