5 injured Broncos players who could play major roles in 2024

The Denver Broncos have been a much healthier team in 2023 than we've grown accustomed to seeing. Instead of being absolutely swarmed by the injury bug, the Broncos have actually been able to put the majority of their top players out there on the field for most of the 2023 season. It's been one of the most underrated impacts of this new coaching staff, and even on a week-to-week basis where we haven't seen many injured Broncos players struggling to stay on the field.

Although the team's injured reserve list is shorter than it was last year (and most recent years), there are still some potential impact players coming back in 2024 off of IR. Which players could make the most substantial impact in 2024 after missing most or all of 2023?

Let's take a look at five names you may not have thought about for a while.

1. Jonas Griffith, LB

The Denver Broncos added Jonas Griffith in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers, and he's shown some tremendous potential. He was supposed to be one of the team's starters last season, but suffered an injury in the preseason and had to gut it out just to be ready for Week 1 against the Seahawks. Over the course of the 2022 season, Griffith would be replaced in the lineup by Alex Singleton, who earned a three-year deal in the 2023 offseason for his play.

The Broncos drafted Drew Sanders in 2023, and he will be a factor in the lineup in 2024, but I also think Griffith -- a restricted free agent -- could be coming back on a team-friendly deal and perhaps start alongside Singleton at the linebacker position with Josey Jewell slated for free agency.

That might be a lofty prediction, but it will be fun to watch how that position group plays out. Griffith is a tremendous special teams player, at the very least, and should be a significant contributor at a team-friendly price.

2. Tim Patrick, WR

Everyone in Broncos Country misses Tim Patrick, but if you look closely on the sidelines, you'll see him in just about every single game. Tim Patrick is one of the most invested players on the sideline every game, rooting for his teammates and being as involved as he possibly can be.

He's been doing some work on the side field at practice lately (per Cody Roark), and while he's not eligible to come back during the 2023 season or playoffs (if the Broncos make it), I do think we'll see him back with the Denver Broncos next year.

As of right now, Tim Patrick is set to count over $16 million against next year's salary cap for the Broncos, and the team is simply not going to have him on the books at that amount. But I do think we're going to see a situation where Patrick is willing to re-do his deal with the Broncos and come back at a more reasonable rate.

The Broncos obviously love Tim Patrick, and I think he loves them back. He was slated to be a big part of the offense once again in 2023 before his injury in training camp, and even though he'll be 31 next season, I still think we're going to see a productive player.

The Broncos may not be able to count on him as much as they did when they signed him to his three-year contract extension, but as a veteran role player, I think he'll be an asset. Hopefully we get the chance to see a healthy Tim Patrick out there making big plays once again for the Denver Broncos offense.

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.

4. Greg Dulcich, TE

Greg Dulcich went from being the potential "joker" in Sean Payton's offense to being one of the missing cards from the entire deck this season. Although the Broncos do have hopes that Dulcich can return to the lineup at some point in 2023, we won't likely see the fulness of what he's capable of contributing until 2024.

Dulcich, a third-round pick out of UCLA in 2022, has tremendous pass-catching talent at the tight end position. He's such a dynamic threat with the ball in his hands and he's proven that as a member of the Broncos even in just a short amount of time in Denver. When you have a guy with this kind of ability to win vertically and make plays after the catch, it can change the whole dynamic of your offense.

And that has been sorely missing for the Denver Broncos in 2023.

Dulcich averaged 12.5 yards per reception last year on 33 receptions for the Broncos, showing off his big-play ability. He's got to find a way to get the hamstring issues under control because those have plagued him since his rookie OTAs.

Whenever the Broncos can consistently have Dulcich available to them on the field, I think he can consistently be a major asset to the team.

5. Jalen Virgil, WR

One of the most underrated players on injured reserve right now for the Denver Broncos is former undrafted star Jalen Virgil. Virgil and his big-time combination of speed and explosiveness made the final 53-man roster last year for the Broncos, and he was on pace to do the same in 2023 before going down with an injury in the preseason.

Virgil is an explosive vertical threat, he's outstanding with the ball in his hands in space, and he can contribute in the return game as needed.

Although the Broncos have perhaps one of the best overall return men in the NFL in Marvin Mims, will they want Mims in those roles again in 2024 if his role offensively is supposed to expand? That's where a player like Jalen Virgil could potentially come into play.

One area where Virgil had seemingly made some great strides as well was in the blocking department. There were some noticeable improvements there in his game when you watched him in the preseason. I think we could see the Broncos get him more involved as he comes back healthy in 2024 as well.

Overall, this Broncos team (thankfully) doesn't really have a ton of major injuries. However, as you can see, there are a number of players currently unavailable who could really be helping the team in 2024.