Elijah Monroe Molden (born January 30, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and was drafted by the Titans in the third round of the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 202 ...

High school career

Molden attended

West Linn High School West Linn High School is a public high school in West Linn, Oregon, United States. It is one of two high schools in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, the other being Wilsonville High School. Academics In 1984, West Linn High School wa ...

West Linn, Oregon West Linn is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A southern suburb within the Portland metropolitan area, West Linn developed on the site of the former Linn City, which was named after U.S. Senator Lewis F. Linn of Ste. Genevie ...

. He played cornerback and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

in high school. In 2014, his sophomore year, West Linn went 8-3 and advanced to the state's 6A quarterfinals. He rushed for 784 yards on 110 carries, with nine rushing touchdowns and had 38 receptions for 542 yards and seven receiving touchdowns. As a junior in 2015, Molden helped lead West Linn to a 12-2 mark and a berth in the 6A state title game. He rushed for 1,071 yards on 106 carries, with seventeen rushing touchdowns and had 476 receiving yards on 28 receptions with six receiving touchdowns. Molden earned first-team All-Three Rivers League on both offense and defense. In his senior season, Molden helped lead the West Linn to a 14-0 record, including a 62-7 victory in the 6A state championship game. He rushed for 784 yards on 59 carries, with ten rushing touchdowns. He averaged 11.3 yards per rushing attempt. Receiving, Molden caught 19 passes for 249 and six receiving touchdowns. On defense, he recorded three interceptions. After his senior season, Molden was a nationally ranked recruit.

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listed him as the # 2 ranked prospect in Oregon, # 213 overall and 19th ranked cornerback in the country.

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ranked Molden the No. 151 overall recruit and No. 17 cornerback in the country. 247Sports.com listed him at No. 2 in Oregon, No. 25 in the nation at cornerback and No. 193 overall.

College

Although Molden’s father was a standout at the University of Oregon, Elijah wanted to create his own legacy. He was heavily recruited by several universities, including

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, Notre Dame, USC, Stanford and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

; but he eventually chose to play at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

under head coach

Chris Petersen Christopher Scott Petersen (born October 13, 1964) is a former American football coach who was most recently the head coach at the University of Washington. Previously the head coach for eight seasons at Boise State University, Petersen guided ...

. He played in all 13 games during his true freshman season. In his sophomore season, Molden played in all 14 games and had two starts, including the Pac-12 title game. He won the school’s award for Most Outstanding Special Teams Player. Molden started all 13 games again in his junior season. He was named the MVP of the

Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas area. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada before moving to the ...

, after totaling nine tackles, a half tackle for loss, a forced fumble and an interception in the win over Boise State. He was recognized for his outstanding season, including, the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 team, Pro Football Focus All-America second-team, first-team All-Pac-12, Pro Football Focus and Associated Press All-Pac-12 first-team, Phil Steele's All-Pac-12 first-team and All-America honorable mention, and the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll. His senior season was cut short by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Molden started every game of the four-game season. Again, he was recognized at the conclusion of the season for his performance both on and off the field. He was named a second-team All-American by Pro Football Focus, which also named him Pac-12 Player of the Year. He earned first-team All-Pac-12 for the second season in a row and he was one of 12 finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy. He was a semifinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy. Finally, he won the 113th annual Guy Flaherty Most Inspirational Award, and also the UW's Defensive MVP, at the team's postseason awards banquet. On December 21, 2020, Molden announced that he would forgo his remaining eligibility and enter his name in the

College statistics

Professional career

On April 30, 2021, the

selected Molden with the 100th overall pick in the third round of the

. He signed his four-year rookie contract with Tennessee on July 22. On September 9, 2022, Molden was placed on injured reserve. He was activated from injured reserve on November 12, 2022. He was placed back on injured reserve on December 7.

Personal life

Molden is the son of Alex and Christin Molden. He is the second oldest of eight children. His father is a member of the University of Oregon Hall of Fame and an eight-year NFL cornerback.

References

External links

Tennessee Titans bioWashington Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molden, Elijah Living people People from West Linn, Oregon Players of American football from Oregon Sportspeople from the Portland metropolitan area American football cornerbacks Washington Huskies football players 1999 births Tennessee Titans players