5 things you need to know for Thursday

Hello again football fans! Here are five things you need to know from Wednesday to start off your Thursdays:

1. Mike Renner's teaching tape featured the sack-avoiding Raiders. Boasting one of the best lines in football, the Raiders were the league's most effective offense at avoiding pressure and sacks. They were near the top of the league in defeating two common defensive pressure generators, the blitz and the stunt.
2. Marshawn Lynch has impressed his offensive coordinator so far. It's still early in the process of getting back to football, but the star running back is at least “pleasantly surprising” his coaches. If Lynch can return to the form that he had when he left the NFL in 2015, he could be a key weapon in advancing the Raiders playoff hopes.
3. There seem to be a lot of options for Kirk Cousins to throw to this year. The question then becomes who will be Washington's lead receiver this year? Jamison Crowder is a likely choice, but Terrelle Pryor should provide plenty of competition for him.
4. Do players perform better for fantasy purposes the week after a Thursday night game? Tyler Loechner looked at this question in Narrative Street, and came away with a resounding, sort of. But not across the board, nor do they gain enough of a benefit to warrant extra consideration in daily leagues.
5. You might want to considering rostering a backup to account for your starting quarterback's bye week. Continuing his examination of quarterback strength of schedule for fantasy purposes, Patrick Thorman identified signal callers with good matchups who might be on the waiver wire when your starter goes on bye. However, this year, if your starter is on bye Week 9, you might just be out of luck.