5 injured Broncos players who could play major roles in 2024

3. Caden Sterns, Safety

The fact that we're not able to see Caden Sterns out there this year with this Denver Broncos' secondary is bordering on criminal. Sterns is such an outstanding playmaker with speed, range, instincts, and athleticism, and having him play side-by-side with Justin Simmons would be special.

Unfortunately, injuries have limited the 2021 fifth-round pick out of Texas and he will be entering a contract year in 2024 with more questions than answers at this point. But certainly no shortage of talent.

The Broncos have something special -- it seems -- in PJ Locke as well, but I think with Caden Sterns coming back, the team has seen enough out of their youngsters at the position to be able to safely move on from Kareem Jackson in 2024 and move forward with these young players.

It was a relatively small sample, of course, but on 17 targets into his coverage in 2022, Sterns allowed just five receptions and had two interceptions. That was good for a QB rating of 8.1 into his coverage.

Again, the guy is a stud, but the Broncos just haven't been able to consistently get him on the field. Hopefully, that can happen in 2024, especially for Sterns's sake as he will be hitting free agency in 2025.