(2) Allen believes that all great safeties have at least one thing in common.
The veteran defensive coordinator has coached Pro Bowl safeties for multiple NFL teams with the Saints (Darren Sharper, Roman Harper and Tyrann Mathieu), Broncos (Brian Dawkins), Raiders (Charles Woodson) and Bears (Kevin Byard).
Allen revealed that the one trait they share is "all of them are really smart."
"There are a ton of different things that you have to be able to do, and you're getting everybody on the same page in terms of not only some of run fit stuff that we do, but also in terms of the coverage responsibility," Allen said.
"So there's a lot of communication that goes on at that position and so those guys have to be really smart. And it's not just book smart, it's being able to think and process and make really good decisions. That's what all the great ones really do."
(3) Agreeing with what coach Ben Johnson stated after the draft, Allen praised general manager Ryan Poles for picking players who fit the team's DNA.
Beginning with Thieneman and continuing throughout the rest of the draft, the Bears bolstered their roster with intense competitors who are consumed by football.
"Poles and his staff did a great job of trying to identify the type of players that we're looking for," Allen said. "We're looking for smart players. We're looking for tough players. We're looking for highly competitive players.
"There was a decrease in, 'What's the 40 time? What's the height? What's the weight? What are the athletic movement skills?' It really was, 'Are they above the line athletically? All right, then let's watch the tape and let's let their football character bleed off the tape.' And every one of our players that you look at, they have great football character, and it bled off the tape at us."
(4) One rookie who possesses the characteristics Allen and the Bears covet is sixth-round pick Jordan van den Berg.
Poles traded up to land Van den Berg, a defensive tackle from Georgia Tech who grew up in South Africa playing rugby and cricket before moving to the United States when he was 10.
After playing at Iowa Western Community College (2020-21), he spent five seasons at Penn State (2021-23) and Georgia Tech (2024-25), appearing in 54 games and recording 93 tackles, 20.0 tackles-for-loss, 6.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. Last year the 6-3, 310-pounder established career highs with 44 tackles, 11.0 tackles-for-loss and 3.0 sacks.
"He was one of these guys that, for whatever reason throughout the league, kind of slipped through the cracks a little bit," Allen said. "Sometimes that stuff happens. But he was a player that our scouting staff brought to us, our defensive line coaches primarily. They watched the tape and came to me and they were like, 'Just do me this favor, watch this 60-play cutup.'
"When you're going through the draft process, there's a lot of [discussion about] what this guy can't do. Well, we tried to focus on what this guy can do. And when you watch that 60-play cutup of the things this player can do, it was pretty impressive. Just the movement skills, the power, the athleticism, the effort, the toughness, all those things—the football character—bled off the tape to us. And he was a guy that we thought, 'Man, this guy really fits into what we want to do.'
"There's certainly a lot of things that he still has to improve on. But there's a skillset there and there's a football character there that we were excited about working with."