AFC Notes: Elijah Molden, Josh Simmons, Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs

Broncos

For their final pick in the 2025 draft, the Broncos selected basketball player Caleb Lohner, who will play tight end in HC Sean Payton‘s offense at 6’7.

“It’s hard,” Payton said of the decision to draft someone with such little experience, via NFL.com. “Going back with Jimmy Graham, I think he had 14, 15 catches. Both of them had a season. Both of them were very good basketball players. Now in Jimmy’s case, there was a lot more. He was a combine invite. We’re late in this draft and you’re rooting for some guys and you see upsides in 6’7″, 245 pounds. You can see the basketball skill set, that’s easy, at a high level. Then you’re looking at a small amount of playing time and yet enough to where you’re watching them. I think the other thing that helped was watching him at the Big 12 Pro Day. There were just a few plays that you see movement skills and it’s a lot to work with. If it turns out like the last one did, then we’d be really excited. You go all the way back in our league, historically, (Antonio) Gates was signed, I believe, undrafted and so it’s kind of one of those things where the body types for the tight end, it’s not like they’re making less of them, they may be playing volleyball and they may be playing basketball but it’s projecting. When you get a chance to see him play football, he goes through a season of putting pads on but his movement skills and his height, weight and his eye, hand coordination there’s a lot of developmental upsides and we’re excited about that.”

“I couldn’t have been happier,” Lohner said about being drafted. “I just wanted an opportunity, and I genuinely believe that wherever I am — and now being part of the Broncos organization — I’m going to do everything I can to help win. I know I don’t have a ton of football under my belt, but that’s exactly why I’m playing the game because I’ve developed a passion and love. I was so excited. I think it’s something you dream about in sports. So here we are now.”

• The Broncos gave undrafted Georgia G Xavier Truss a $20,000 signing bonus, with another $130,000 in salary guaranteed. (Mike Klis)

Chargers

Chargers S Elijah Molden commented on his return to Los Angeles in free agency this offseason.

“It was the best-case scenario for me and my family. Something that, in-season, I couldn’t really think about because I was so in the mode of every week and the demands,” Molden said, via the team website. “But once the season ended and things settled down, getting that extension wrapped up — we were kind of talking about it toward the end of the season — but we were able to do it pretty quickly. A couple of weeks before free agency. Just a huge blessing for me and my family. This will be my second year playing safety. Last year I kind of had to learn on the fly. Now I’m just really comfortable with my alignment and all the aspects of the position. That, plus being in the system, it’s not like I’m able to cheat it sometimes, but it’s so ingrained in me that I can focus on what the offense is doing and what the coordinators are trying to play chess.”

Molden also provided an update on his torn meniscus after having a full repair instead of a cleanup scope.

“Broken bones heal fast. I was good from that pretty quickly, a couple of weeks,” Molden said. “Then I had my meniscus [injury] in the Tampa Bay game that ended up getting addressed after the season. Went to the best in the business [Dr. Neal ElAttrache], had the surgery and feeling good. I feel really good. I’m going to for sure be 100 percent by training camp without any hiccups or anything like that. We did what was best for my knee. The scope is a quicker recover but long-term, probably not the best. In season, a lot of people do it so they can come back to play. I did the full repair because we had the time and I want to have a long career. Rehab for that is longer than a scope would be, but it’s not an ACL or Achilles. I’m moving around really well.”

Chiefs

Chiefs director of player personnel and college scouting Ryne Nutt compared first-round OT Josh Simmons to Christian Darrisaw and Rashawn Slater.

“In terms of years past, I would say, Josh, when he was healthy at this year, this tape, would be one of the better ones in the last few years,” Nutt said, via NFL.com. “He kind of reminds me of (Vikings left tackle) Christian Darrisaw, who’s done really well for the Vikings. He’s got a little bit of (LT Rashawn) Slater in him who plays for the Chargers. The kid’s arms are longer than I think people think, the (NFL Scouting) Combine measured him at 33 (inches) but his Pro Day — or 34 and an eighth, and I think that’s closer to what we kind of had, I think we had around 34 when we brought him in. The kid is super talented and super willing to work, and we’re excited to have him where we got him.”

“You could make your case for the best, but he’s definitely in the top three in this draft class in terms of what he provides,” Nutt continued. “The only difference maybe between him and some other guys is he started two years and some of these other guys, like the LSU kid (Patriots LT Will Campbell ) I think started more and you could say experience and stuff like that, but Josh is physically — he is elite. I mean, he is big, he’s strong, his feet jump off the tape. When you put this tape on, his set is as pretty as it looks now in terms of offensive line pass setting. He got better every year. His first year at Ohio State he flipped to the left side from the right side the year prior, and I think it just took him a little time to adjust to just everything, like a new playbook, a new surrounding (and) a new position essentially. It’s not as easy as people think going from the right side to the left side. There is a big difference and sometimes it just takes people a little longer, and I think that was the case with Josh. This last year, you can watch those six games, and it’s not unfair to say he was the best tackle up to that point. It stinks he got injured because I do think — I mean, I guess it’s good for us because we got him and that’s the only way we would’ve gotten him because that kid, he was a top-20 pick. It stinks for the kid, it hurt him on his wall and the money, but things happen for a reason, and it’s kind of not where you start, it’s where you finish, and I think just the setup here that we have with coach (Andy) Reid and (offensive line) coach (Andy) Heck is going to be great for this kid.”