10 X-Factors for the Denver Broncos in 2023 season

10. Caden Sterns, safety

Justin Simmons is well regarded as one of the best safeties in the NFL if not the best. When you have players like Surtain and Simmons you do not have to worry about their side of the ball. Which is ultimately why Damarri Mathis and Caden Sterns are on this list. The Sterns side of the equation is a fascinating one on the back end of the secondary for the Denver Broncos. He is an athletic freak of a talent like Simmons who can play strong safety or as Sterns calls it left or right safety. 

When Sterns played at the University of Texas he was a phenom for the Longhorns. If you can ball in the state of Texas you will be a household name. Sterns's freshmen year was stellar. His performance saw a rise to top draft pick status. Sadly, inconsistent play followed and he became a mid-round draft pick for the Broncos in a year the team selected two safeties back-to-back. It was Sterns who saw the impact and not Indiana’s Jamar Johnson. Some even felt Johnson was the best pro-ready safety between the two, but Sterns had the potential. 

In his first season, boy was Sterns fun to watch. He became almost a rover player and safety alongside Simmons. It seems fitting the interception where he picked off Dak Prescott happened in the state of Texas where he made his claim to fame. His versatility is something that Christian Parker and Vance Joseph have to be drooling over. Sterns not only gives them a possible physical safety but one with athletic ability like Simmons. A defense with roughly the same traits is crazy. 

In a time where you love the addition of Kareem Jackson, you feel this is the year Sterns gets to finally show his true colors of what he can be on the backend. Simmons already feeds off Jackson and his leadership. If Simmons and Sterns become inseparable, the NFL better look out.