 Hey Eliza congrats to you. I guess what do you know about the Titans? How do you think you fit in and maybe what they tell you when they when they talk to you on the phone? I guess I know you know a decent amount about the Titans. There's a handful of teams really only I Don't know I can kind of one one hand the teams I had interesting going into the draft So I did a little breakdown of their defense over the past year And funny enough there were a team that you know even from the jump I told my parents and my fiance I just had a feeling that I end up the Titan sure enough Yes, I'm here sorry Elijah when you at the University of Washington were you more of an inside guy an outside guy Did you do both? What kind of roles did you have there? Yeah, I was more inside and I also play safety So I would switch back and forth that I'd be I'd be a nickel You know it's a sub-personnel whenever we go base I slide back to safety We should have made the other piece for her Kayla All right, Elijah first of all I got to say it go Cougs Hey, hey, welcome man, I'm always I'm always loved the Northwest flavor here in Tennessee My first question is about Tennessee. What did intrigue you? I mean you said Tennessee was always one of those teams you looked at and thought you could go there And then my second part to the question is how much? Has your dad just influenced you and what does it mean for him to see you go in the draft? Yeah First part about Tennessee. I think you know it was more You know, I guess the the personality of the team just from the outside looking in there were always a team that Like I did it the right way, you know what I mean like a gritty hard-nosed team in front office You know, they play they play tough-nosed football and you know, obviously to like Tennessee is not a bad place to live You know what I mean? So That's the first part of the second part being there is ever since I can remember I felt like Call to play play this game And that's you know, mostly because of my dad. So my first memories are him getting Interceptions and and me going in the locker room with his teammates and all that stuff. So it's you know, it's finally here in It was a moment where you know kind of all along I knew I'd get here is just a matter of of Winning what obstacles I had overcome and you know now. I'm just I'm super great We'll be a part of this this organization just get to work Ron Yeah, what's up Elijah looking at your ability and how you fit in with this this Titans team Can you kind of expand upon, you know, what makes you such a solid option as far as in the nickel in addition outside and dropping single high Yep, I think you know first and foremost Just the way I approach the game you know from from an effort standpoint and from You know film from a film standpoint, but beyond that just my I think my change of direction and my ability to You know read read offices and and read patterns that makes me you know It's all player and nickel and also our safety. So, you know, I I'm not sure where I'm gonna play I know as I'm just gonna you know, wherever they need me. I'm gonna give it a hundred ten percent and With how some of the doubts were put on you especially people questioned your speed and things like that Does that put you put a chip on your shoulder? Do you come into this? I really not upset but like with that with that chip with that edge a little bit more. Oh Yeah, a little bit. I'm not I wouldn't say, you know, if you would ask me this a couple months I'm not really the player to have a chip on my shoulder. Um, you know, I'm more play for the love of the game But you know the last couple months have been challenging for me I've had I've had someone off schools, but so, you know, I think you know I will channel kind of some of that Some of those emotions towards how I approach the game Eliza Noticing in a few of this the scanning reports on you talks about how strong a tackler you are You know despite the fact you're not the biggest guy out there Is that something that you take a lot of pride in and maybe also what else do you feel like you what are you? What are your top skills do you feel like? Yeah, I take a pride in my tackling really I feel like you know in close lake and my coaches that you'd have said tackling 80% effort 20% technique You know what I mean? I I never You know, I never worried too much about the repercussions of tackling and hitting bigger bodies Um, it really I've been healthy doing it Um, you know what that means says it's nice to not have to tackle Derek Henry Uh in the league, but you know in terms of what else I do You know, I feel like I'm just a football player, you know what I mean? And and in this league you you need to be able to you know to to have You know very good change of direction and good speed. I think I have both of those too Along with the skills of defensive back Paul Hey Elijah Three of the top four corners now here are going to be new guys Wonder what you think of uh of the process of of creating a cohesive group in short order And the challenges of of doing that Yeah, that's a good question. I think first and foremost, we have to know what we're doing as a defense Um, you know what we're installing and then we also have to know what what the office is going to Uh, you know drop against us. So I think the two biggest things are communication and trust Um, if you look at the best the best secondaries in the NFL, they're talking non-stop Um, you know, I have full faith that we're going to get that going buck What's going on Elijah? I mean, obviously your dad having such an impressive background both on the college level and going 11 overall in the 96 NFL draft how valuable the resource was throughout this entire process understanding that it may not You know be the most conventional pre draft process given everything that's going on Yeah, very valuable. Um, he he's someone he knows what I'm thinking even before I say it, you know what I mean? So Um, you know, he's always there to give me little nuggets of of wisdom and words of encouragement um You know, we we have a we have a special bond just especially when it comes to football um You know, like I said, we he was my coach in high school and in youth Then he passed me off the coach's leg. But you know throughout Really my own journey of football. He's always been that person in my ear. Give me give me feedback and keep him going Elijah talked a little bit about having a feeling that you would you would end up with the Titans and Looked at some of their stuff. What did you see? What have you seen? What have been your impressions of? You know this defense and how they play defense I mean I got that initial feeling just off of the interview. I have with them, uh, you know a month and a half ago um Seems like our personalities kind, you know fit well together in terms of defense, you know, they're always going to mix it up um you know, they I think as you know in the league you have to mixed up from week to week and and attack the office where they're weak at um, you know, but that being said, I'm just ready to learn the playbook completely and and um You know make uh make impact wherever that is in the book layer Elijah, how much did it help you along the way that you had Seen what an NFL life is what what an NFL athlete is and and how much were you able to sort of emulate your dad on your own journey here? Yeah, tremendously. I mean with with him and especially with other people I've been contact with throughout my life It's just like the work ethic and the the approach to the game and and really to everything in life I take pride in You know every day Going about my day with intent and passion That's easy to do when you love a game or you love something like that the way I love football. So you know, if I think, you know, if if a player is You know, if he loves the game and he approaches it the right way then everything else will fall into place Teresa Elijah, you had the feeling about the Titans, but uh, you know, did how how many other teams did you have interested in you uh during this process? Yeah, I was tricky just because uh, you know, my my versatility playing playing inside and safety and also the ability to play outside Um, my agent told me like 20, you know, 15 20 teams whereas maybe at a quarterback You have like four or five teams So I you know, I went in open minded, but definitely in the back of my head. I was hoping I'd be a Titan Um, and I mean necessarily this crazy worked out the way it did. Um, the way it did, you know, I know God has a plan for me Um, you know, I'm looking forward to being in Tennessee David Bochlear You already got me. I'm good Ben Arthur Hey, Elijah. First of all, welcome to Nashville. I'm actually from Seattle So I kind of have an idea of what you're going to be, you know, kind of going through but um Just what what is it about Jimmy lake system at Washington that prepares defensive back so well for the nfl And what did you maybe learn from the guys that were, um, you know ahead of you, um, you know a couple years I think like Taylor rap Um guys like that. What did they do, you know to kind of help prepare you for kind of your moment now with with the Titans Yeah, yeah, I mean really they set the they set the standard for the db room at Washington I knew going into that db room that Nothing but my best was going to be acceptable Um, I also knew that I need to get better every every day Every year as well And with coach leg, I think, you know, the reason why he sets success putting dbs out In the league, I'm still waiting for one of all the teammates key Taylor to get drafted here soon But I I think it's just because he teaches the he teaches the position Um, you know, not just as a as a corner or a safety He teaches it as one part to a bigger piece of the puzzle So we really we learn the whole defense and if you know the whole defense Uh, you know, that's when people are able to communicate effectively and make plays