Tim Patrick

Patrick suffered a season-ending injury during training camp for a second straight year, with his ACL tear in 2022 followed by an Achilles tear this summer. He'll try to return in 2024 and compete for a role, but with only one year remaining on his contract his future in Denver is uncertain.

Patrick went undrafted out of Utah in 2017, eventually catching on as a reserve with Denver and working his way up to a starting job the last two seasons. There was some thought last offseason that he'd be replaced by 2020 second-round pick KJ Hamler, who joined 2018 second-rounder and 2020 first-rounder Jerry Jeudy in the WR room. Patrick kept his starting job nonetheless, leaving Hamler as the No. 4 receiver before a brief promotion (on account of Jeudy's ankle injury) and then a Week 3 ACL tear. At the end of the year, it was Patrick rather than Sutton or Jeudy who led the team with five receiving TDs, meanwhile finishing just 42 yards shy of Sutton's mark for receiving yards. The Broncos took notice, giving Patrick a three- year, $30 million extension in November, but he'll have to wait until 2023 to make good on the new contract after suffering an ACL tear in August 2022. The timing should at least give Patrick an opportunity to get back to full strength before training camp next year.

With Courtland Sutton out for the year, and top prospect Jerry Jeudy not quite living up to his billing, it was Patrick who emerged as the team's most efficient and reliable receiver last season. Patrick averaged 14.5 YPC and 9.4 YPT, pulled in four catches of 40-plus yards and scored six times on only 79 targets. At 6-4, 212, and running a 4.45 40, Patrick has the physical specs of a No. 1 NFL receiver, but given he was an undrafted free agent in 2017 and is already 27, it's unlikely the team elevates him to that role, especially with Jeudy around and Sutton returning to health. The Broncos did place a second-round tender on Patrick, so they clearly value him, and there are rumors he could be part of a trade. For now, he's a dart-throw -- a big, athletic target coming off a solid season, stuck in a crowded receiving corps.

Patrick returned to the fold Week 11 against the Vikings after missing half of the season with a broken hand. He put up 77 yards in the loss but never topped 50 yards again on the season. Patrick's role is obviously in question after the Broncos went with wide receivers in each of the first two rounds of the draft, but the Utah product has a unique skill set that should keep him on the roster. The big-bodied Patrick moved the chains on 87.5 percent of his receptions, second best in the league among receivers with at least 15 catches. He's also a key special-teamer. He may not be more than a WR4 when all is said and done, but Patrick should have a few nice performances in 2020.

A classic size and speed prospect with a 6-5 frame and a 4.47 40-yard-dash time, Patrick went undrafted due, in large part, to his injury history at Utah. After turning heads in training camp, Patrick worked his way from special-teams ace to backup target to the team's leading receiver during the season's final four games - collecting 242 yards on 19 catches. There are few certainties with so much youth at receiver in Denver, but Patrick's continued development could create a threatening duo on the outside along with Courtland Sutton - two towering targets with exceptional ability on contested catches.