5 things you need to know for Thursday

Good morning football fans! Here are the five things you need to know coming out of Wednesday to get your morning started right:

1. Mike Renner dives into another batch of Teaching Tape to take a look at how New York Giants NT Damon Harrison dominates against the run like no other player in the game. Harrison has made run-stop percentage a statistic all of his own, and Mike looks at some examples of his stellar run defense.
2. The San Francisco 49ers are bringing in veteran cornerback Leon Hall for a visit. The 49ers secondary is light on veteran experience, with no defensive back on the roster having more than five years in the league, and Hall has years of high quality play to his name, even if injuries have been a significant blight on his career. Last season the 8.2 coverage snaps played per target was the best mark of his career, and on the Giants defense.
3. Broncos head coach Vance Joseph is reportedly excited at the prospects of second-year defensive lineman Adam Gotsis. The Georgia Tech product played just 221 snaps on defense in his rookie season, but was a pass-rushing force for the Yellow Jackets in his final college season, and has played relatively little football in his career. His development should be fun to watch.
4. The Chicago Bears have claimed FB Michael Burton from division rival Detroit after he was cut loose to make way for RB Matt Asiata. The Bears, if anything, employed even less fullback than the Lions did last year, so Burton still has his work cut out to get on the field much, but when he has been out there he has been a consistently good lead blocking force.
5. One of the most persistent rumors in football is that a player in his contract year sees a ramped-up performance as he looks to hit a big payday. PFF Fantasy’s Tyler Loechner runs the numbers to see whether there is any credence to that narrative, or if it’s something concocted by people in search of a storyline.