1st & Goal: Elijah Molden, Tennessee Titans Defensive Back

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Alrighty, First and Goal is back. It is the Zach Gelb Show, coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. And today we'll preview the Tennessee Titans and we'll do so with a member of their football team. He's the defensive back and was drafted in the third round.

Picked 100 overall back in the 2021 draft and is getting set to enter year number three in Nashville out of the University of Washington. And that, of course, is Elijah Molden. Elijah, always appreciate the time. Thanks for it.

How are you? Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me on.

I really appreciate it and doing well over here. You know, we're getting started next week. So just kind of taking time with a fan before we start up. So you had a really successful rookie season and then unfortunately last year had a nagging groin injury. How did you deal with not being able to play a lot last year going through that groin injury? It sucks. You know, I don't even you said, you know, going into my third year, but really just feels like my second.

You know, I missed all the camp. And then really, I played only two games, but those two games, I still had the pole groin. So it was pretty it was tough. You know, it was it was the hardest thing I've had to go through in terms of just my football career and stuff. Now I'm all healed up and ready for the season. What do you want to prove this year individually after with what you had to go through last year? Oh, I'm not, I'm not too worried more, you know, I'm not too worried about proving myself you know, to anyone. I just kind of want to just go back to, you know, what I know I'm capable of and proven, I guess, more so proven to myself what I'm capable of before this whole injury. I did see during some of the offseason workout programs that you were getting some reps at safety. How did that go?

Went great. Yeah, I loved it. I think, you know, the more I could do, the better. I played a little safety in college, but, you know, my rookie year, I didn't, you know, we were pretty deep at safety. So I just never really, I never got into the position. But camp, it was really fun to learn safety. And with with KB, not before until later, I got some good rest before he came. And then from there, I was able to do both nickel and safety. What do you kind of envision your role being this year with Tennessee? Whatever gets me on the field, really, I'm not too picky.

Hopefully, I can be used at multiple roles. Let's get to the next down. Elijah molds in here with us. What was your reaction yesterday? Everyone saw the news that your football team landed DeAndre Hopkins. How did you react when you saw that one come across your phone or wherever you saw it? Yeah, man, I think it's been brewing for a while.

I mean, I don't I don't pay attention to the media a whole lot. But I think his name and the Titans kept coming up up and again and again. And then I think my brother sent it to me and he's big on fantasy football. So he was he was definitely excited.

But I think it's great. You know, he's he's one of the best receivers of the decade, really. And he's done so much in his career. So I think adding another weapon to our office will be awesome for us. And you already have Derek Henry. Now you get DeAndre Hopkins. That should be a pretty damn good offense coming up this season.

Yeah, I think so. I mean, we just got to put the pieces together on both sides of the ball. I know we have a lot of players. And yeah, I mean, training camp.

We'll see how things fall into place. So some people when they see the news yesterday of DeAndre Hopkins, they go, why is he going there? Tennessee doesn't have much of a Super Bowl window.

They don't think that's a winning destination. What do you say to people that don't believe that the Tennessee Titans could be a playoff team this year? I mean, they're not in the building, you know, they're not they don't see kind of the work we put in. They don't a lot of them, you know, just kind of, you know, follow follow media and watch games on TV on their Sunday.

But there's a lot there's there's a lot more that goes on kind of behind the scenes. And we really like the team we have. And and, you know, obviously we didn't make the playoffs last year. That's one of our goals. We have, you know, high expectations and high standards for ourselves.

Let's get to the next down. Elijah Mould's in here with us. When you take a look at your head football coach, Mike Vrabel, I know that you felt like you only played one season because unfortunately, the injuries last year. But how do you recap these last two years with Coach Rabel, one of the better coaches in the league? Definitely one of the better coaches in the league. I think he's well versed, not just when he can go out there and coach any position. I think that's kind of what makes him special and then situationally how good he is in terms of just kind of teaching us and coaching us up on the details.

You know, every plays a different situation. He's really good at getting that, you know, getting that through our heads and stuff. So I think he's a great, great coach to play for.

We all want to play hard for him. What type of defense do you think you guys will have this year when you take a look at the talent that you have in that locker room? I mean, I know, I mean, in terms of our past defense, we're going to improve.

Coach Harris coming in, he's one of the best coaches I've ever had already, just from OTA. So that's going to improve. And then as a defense too, I think, you know, in the run game, we were already stout last year. So we're definitely going to improve across the board.

Let's get to the final down. Elijah Moulden here with us. So you take a glance at your quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, a lot of people that do my job, right? We all love to talk about the coach. We all love to talk about the quarterback and your quarterback has been in the news a lot.

There's been a lot of opinions out there. What type of quarterback and where is this team's confidence with Ryan Tannehill when he's under center? Yeah, I love Ryan. He's a great guy. I mean, just being around him the last couple of years, I have a ton of respect for him and the way he prepares for a game. You know, there's definitely trust in the locker room with him just because of the way he prepares. And, you know, he's also kind of gone through some injuries and a lot of challenges over the last year or two. And I feel like this year is going to be a good opportunity now that we have, you know, we got some good pieces around him. Two drafts ago, the team selected Malik Willis. This past draft, they drafted Will Levis.

Just what have your interactions and what are your relationships been with those two young quarterbacks? Yeah, I mean, good people. I mean, I know Malik a lot more than Will just because he's been around longer. Love that guy. And he's a people's person. I think, you know, he really took a step in OCAs. I'm excited to watch him develop.

And then with Will too, I think he came in pretty, you know, it's tough for a rookie to come in and he actually, I think he surprised some people just the way he was able to pick up some stuff. So, yeah, it's a good group of guys. And last thing I'll ask you, just because of what happened for you last year, you know, it's got to be an exciting time, you know, right? You're in a good situation health-wise and you're getting ready to really get what you would probably say is really year two for you in the NFL. Yeah, yeah, I think so. I mean, it's, you know, last year was tough for me, but in my personal life, it was also probably my best year.

So, you know, a bit of yin and yang. And I think I'm going into this year a lot more mature than I did last year and the year before and just kind of open to whatever. And I know I'm going to grow and learn and get better every day.

That's just kind of how I've always been. So I'm really excited to make a splash this year. Well, we're excited to see you get back on the football field. Appreciate you doing this. Thanks so much. Good luck, Elijah. Thank you. Appreciate it.