Inside The Huskies

Molden Handles Pro Day Like a Pro, Has His NFL Career Plotted

The former University of Washington defensive back emphasizes his strengths, shrugs off any doubters.

Dan Raley

Elijah Molden always plays good defense.

Asked after his UW Pro Day showing about mock NFL drafts slotting him in the second tier of defensive backs, the versatile defender handled the question much like he would a pass sent in his direction.

On Tuesday, he deflected it, at the same time keeping himself one play ahead of everyone else.

"I don't think about it too much," Molden said of the draft projections. "I stay off social media pretty much. It's never helped me play a game. I'm only concerned about myself five years down the line."

Really, 2026?

"I think I'm just starting to play good football," he said. "So I'm excited to see where I'll be at that time."

That's just Molden, thinking of long-term NFL growth rather than dreaming of an immediate splash, which is what happened to him with the Huskies.

After a couple of seasons of mostly pulling special-teams duty, the product of West Linn, Oregon, turned himself into a two-time, first-team All-Pac-12 selection while playing all over the field. It just took a little time. And to nearly every position in the UW secondary.

Nickelback, safety, cornerback.

"Nickel slash safety," Molden said of the positions discussed with him. "If needed, outside. It's kind of what I did here, to be honest with you. We'll see. Really, I'll play wherever."

While he's the son of Alex Molden, the former Oregon cornerback taken 11th overall in the 1996 NFL draft, the son turns up mostly as a third rounder in the mock drafts. 

Teams bring up his dad in nearly every NFL conversation he's had so far, which is a good thing, noting the pro football genes.

At Pro Day, the Huskies' Molden ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash, probably the biggest reason people have him slotted lower than Alex Molden was a quarter century ago.

The ex-Husky defender will tell you that his strengths are his athleticism, which he wanted the scouts to see on Tuesday, and his high-level of field smarts, which enable him to make a lot of plays.

"I'm 22 years old and I approach the game like a veteran," Molden said. "That's credit to my dad and all the coaches I've had growing up." 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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