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NASHVILLE — The big story out of Tennessee Titans' practice on Tuesday was the absence of all-pro safety Kevin Byard, but one of the smaller stories that may matter most when the season comes around is the potential position change for third-year corner Elijah Molden.
Molden was considered a versatile defensive piece coming out of college in 2021. When the Titans drafted him, the thought was Molden could play some corner or safety and could really impact the defense at nickel corner in the slot.
In Molden's rookie year though, we really only got to see him as a slot corner on early downs where he could use his intelligence and physicality to help against the pass, but also against the run. Molden played some "safety" duty, but it was mostly in man coverage matchups against tight ends, not true safety work in the backend.
After a lost season in 2022 due to injury, we might get to see Molden's versatility in it's full form. According to Molden and head coach Mike Vrabel, Molden has been working at safety a lot in the early phases of team activities.
Vrabel said Molden has worked in "the back part of the field" meaning as a deep safety. Worth noting that the Titans' defense uses their safeties interchangeably with both safeties being asked to play in the box, back deep in single high(Cover 1, Cover 3) and in split-field situations(Cover 2, Cover 4) .
Vrabel also mentioned this being a chance to expand Molden's role with the team. As mentioned above, Molden played almost exclusively in the slot as a nickel in year one. He doesn't have the needed size or height to play outside and doesn't have the coverage skills to play at corner all three downs. Giving Molden some safety duties really opens up ways for him to get on the field.
Molden could be a backup at safety, a position that is very thin and be ready to go in case of injury. Also, Molden could dive further into the role he dabbled in as a dime safety who can play sub-package linebacker or matchup in man coverage on tight ends. Vrabel also mentioned Molden as someone who could be used as the personal protector on punt team.
Molden will need to be healthy and provide more versatility than he did his rookie year to make the Titans' roster. Based on what we saw and heard at practice, he is on his way to doing just that.
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More must-reads:
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