LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The NFL Annual League Meeting is taking place this week, and the AFC head coaches met with the media on Monday. I tried to speak with as many of them as I could to gain some insight for the upcoming season.
Here are injury updates, news items and just general things of interest that the coaches from the AFC North said in the media session.
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Cleveland Browns
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski gave updates on several players of interest to Fantasy managers.
On Deshaun Watson, whose season ended in Week 10 with a shoulder injury, Stefanski didn't give a timeline for Watson's return but said he's hopeful things are headed in the right direction with the quarterback's recovery.
"He's right where he needs to be," Stefanski said. "He has started throwing. Joe Sheehan, our trainer, went out and supervised some of his throwing. So we'll see him in April when he gets back in and we'll just continue that rehab."
Watson, when healthy, remains a No. 2 Fantasy quarterback in all leagues worth drafting with a late-round pick. Prior to getting hurt, Watson scored at least 22.6 Fantasy points in three of five full games.
Cleveland gave Watson another weapon this offseason with Jerry Jeudy, who joins Amari Cooper, David Njoku and Elijah Moore. Stefanski is excited to see what Jeudy can do for the Browns.
"He's another talented player. He can win in a variety of ways. We just think if you add good players to the complement you have already, it makes life easier on the other guys as well," Stefanski said. "Really like his skill set, like his ability to separate, like his ability to make plays with the football."
Jeudy is only worth drafting with a late-round pick in the majority of leagues. He averaged 13.6 PPR points per game in 2022, but he's been under 10 PPR points per game in the other three seasons of his career. It's hard to envision a breakout season for Jeudy in Cleveland's crowded receiving corps.
Finally, on Nick Chubb's recovery from last year's knee injury, Stefanski said the team is not rushing Chubb back to fit any timeline. Chubb tore his ACL and MCL in Week 2.
"I'm excited for Nick. He's doing a great job with his rehab, as everybody can imagine," Stefanski said. "We'll just make sure that we continue to make decisions based on him and the medical staff. But excited about Nick."
Chubb, if ready for Week 1, is worth drafting as early as Round 5 in the majority of leagues. But at 28 and coming off a major knee injury, Chubb could be a risky Fantasy running back this season.
