AFC Notes: Rookie Buzz, Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs

Broncos

Reporters asked Broncos HC Sean Payton about what he has seen from seventh-round TE Caleb Lohner so far this offseason.

“It’s limited,” Payton said, via BroncosWire. “So this is a basketball player for most of his career. He plays a year of football, count the snaps, count the catches. I get it. Yet you see traits, you see movements. I’m not a big fan of the Big 12 Pro Day because a player like him gets six routes instead of 20 that he would get at his own Pro Day. So hopefully that’s going away, but there are two or three clips where I’m like, ‘Play it again. Play it again.’ Then, when you watch him, and you watch him move, and even in our first two days here, [you see promise].

“People bring up Jimmy [Graham as a comparison]. Now, Jimmy was a third-round pick. I get it, but there were some similarities in that. He only played a year, 80-something snaps. I think he had 18 catches. So yes, we have to coach and develop. In other words, if it was already present when you watch him, and you guys see him, and shake his hand and stand next to him, like, ‘Holy cow.’ There are traits there that excite me. Then just visiting with him, and his intentionality and his excitement about it. I’m excited to watch it.”

Chargers

• As expected, new Chargers OL Mekhi Becton opened as the starter at right guard during OTAs, per Eric Smith of the team website. At center, Smith notes Zion Johnson was snapping to QB Justin Herbert early in practice but during team sessions, it was veteran Bradley Bozeman at center.
• Chargers LT Rashawn Slater was not at OTAs, so Smith says OL Jamaree Salyer took the reps with the first string in his place. Slater’s entering the final year of his contract. At left guard, sixth-round OL Branson Taylor and OL Karsen Barnhart split the first-team reps, with Taylor also working with the second and third-strings.
• Barnhart was the second-string right guard, and veteran C Andre James was the second-string center.

Chiefs

The Chiefs weren’t happy with their pass rush last year, so they double-dipped on Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Draft and took second-round DT Omarr Norman-Lott along with third-round DE Ashton Gillotte.

“You can never have enough of them,” Chiefs senior director of player personnel Mike Bradway said via ESPN’s Adam Teicher. “I think Omarr with his inside rush and Ashton just with his versatility, we thought those guys are just too hard to find.”

Those two appealed to the Chiefs in part because of their similarities to current or recent players. Chiefs director of player personnel Ryne Nutt compared Norman-Lott to DT Tershawn Wharton, who had 6.5 sacks last year and parlayed that into a strong free agent contract with the Panthers.

“He’s got some similarities to [Wharton],” Nutt said. *“He’s bigger. He’s not as fast, but their...