Roddy White

Week Sixteen Analysis: While Roddy White did play last week, it might have been better for fantasy owners if he didn't. His two catches and 16 yards against the Giants were a dismal failure. What we did learn from last week is that he looked, by all accounts, fairly healthy, so we just need to hope for White to get eight targets this week. Why eight targets? White has not scored or topped 70 yards in any game with seven or fewer targets, but has topped 100 yards or scored in each of his last six games with eight or more passes in his direction. He's got a good chance for those numbers in Detroit this weekend. In the last five weeks, four different wide receivers have seen double digit targets against the Lions and each of them has topped 90 yards or scored.

Week Fifteen Analysis: Roddy White rebounded after two inexplicably dismal weeks against the Bucs and Saints with nine catches, 117 yards and a score against a better-than-average Panthers defense. This week he faces a Giants defense that has shown signs of improvement, but has still relinquished 106-yard outings from a wideout in each of the last two games. In their last five outings the Giants have given up seven touchdowns to wide receivers.

Week Fourteen Analysis: In his Week 4 meeting with the Panthers, Roddy White may have had his best game of the season. White grabbed eight catches for 169 yards and two scores in that game. The only problem is, White's had only one touchdown since then. Last week's one catch for 20 yards was a low point. How low? White has had more than one catch and 20 yards in every game since December of 2007. That's 78 games! It's a tough task against a Panthers' defense that has allowed only six touchdowns to wideouts not named Roddy White. However, White has had more career receptions and touchdowns against Carolina than any other franchise in the league. So I'll take a chance on him breaking the slump this weekend.

Week Thirteen Analysis:
You don't need a deck of Tarot cards to figure out if you should start Roddy White each week. Despite the fact that he has not scored since Week 6, he's put up three 100-yard performances in the last four games and plays for one of the best offenses in the league. Not only that, he's had a lot of success against New Orleans in recent history. White has topped 100 yards or scored in four of his last five meetings with the Fleur de Lis. The Saints have given up 199 or more yards to opposing wideouts seven times this season, including a Week 10 meeting with Atlanta in which White had seven catches and 114 yards.

Week Twelve Analysis: The Buccaneers have allowed 10 touchdowns to opposing wide receivers this season. The ten receivers who have accomplished that feat averaged exactly 100 yards per game in those games. With Julio Jones still nursing that bad ankle, White becomes the focal point of the Falcons passing attack, and he should get plenty of work. He's topping 114 yards in each of the last three weeks, but hasn't scored in four games, which is tied for his longest scoreless streak since 2008. That streak will likely end this week though, as the Bucs have allowed at least one touchdown to a wideout in each of the last five weeks. And they rank dead last in yardage allowed to wide receivers, 225 per game.

Week Eleven Analysis: Roddy White is the Atlanta receiver who has the most 100-yard games this season. He has 10 more receptions and 100 more yards than his counterpart, Julio Jones. And it was White that Matt Ryan targeted with the last second throw to attempt to beat the Saints last week. Jones is great, but White remains, slightly, the preferred target. The Cardinals secondary has been murdered over their last two games, allowing a whopping six wide receiver touchdowns over those two games. By way of comparison, nine teams have given up six or fewer wide receiver touchdowns all year!

Week Ten Analysis: The Falcons faced a pretty tough Cowboys secondary last week, and while it was the first game this season in which an Atlanta wide receiver did not score a touchdown, Roddy White caught seven balls for 118 yards. If White can put up numbers like that against one of the better secondaries in football, imagine what he can do when he faces the worst defense in football, like he will face this week in New Orleans. The Saints have allowed multiple touchdowns to wide receivers in four of their last five games, and have allowed a wide receiver to top 90 yards in seven of eight games.

Week Nine Analysis: The Falcons have played seven games this season and a wide receiver has scored in each of those games. In their first, third, fifth and seventh games it was Julio Jones scoring, while in the second, fourth and sixth games it was Roddy White. Is this a simple case of playing the matchups or are the Falcons alternating their number one receiver each game? Or maybe it's the Falcons' quiet nod to Brett Saberhagen. Either way, it's White's turn this week against the Cowboys. This is a good Dallas secondary, ranking 9th in yard to wideouts, and 3rd in touchdowns to the position. Dallas held their own last week against Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz, but had allowed four touchdowns to wide receivers in the prior three weeks.

Week Eight Analysis: Roddy White scored his fourth touchdown of the season in Week 6 and had a bye week to relax and enjoy being a part of the only undefeated squad in the NFL. The Falcons are back to reality this week in Philadelphia, as they face an angry Eagles team that is fresh off of a defensive coordinator firing. Despite big dollar acquisitions Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, this secondary has allowed three wide receivers to top 109 yards in the last three weeks, so the firing wasn't a total shock. Nnamdi still has shut down ability, and White remains the Falcons' top wideout, so he'll draw Nnamdi every time he's on Nnamdi's side of the field.

Week Six Analysis: Roddy White has led Julio Jones in targets in four of five games and has 170 more receiving yards than his counterpart, but I still wouldn't consider White Atlanta's clear-cut number one receiver. Sure, he's averaging 96 yards per game, but Jones has so much talent that any week could be just like last week (where Jones nabbed 10 catches for 94 yards and White only had four catches for 68 yards). This week they face the Black Holey Oakland secondary. Receivers who have been targeted six or more times against the Raiders are averaging six catches for 87 yards this season. Roddy White has not been targeted fewer than six times in a calendar year.

Week Five Analysis: Wasn't Julio Jones supposed to be the top dog in Atlanta? Wasn't Roddy White about to be put out to pasture? It seems that the 30-year old White did not get that memo. Currently, White leads Jones in targets, receptions and yards and they've each scored three touchdowns. White has now had 50 or more yards in 15 straight games, 10 or more targets in nine of his last 12 games and had a touchdown in eight of his last 12 regular season games. It's a perfect storm this week as White faces off against a Redskins team that could be one of the worst pass defenses ever. Washington has allowed five wide receivers to top 100 yards and has yielded touchdowns to seven different wideouts.

Week Four Analysis: Roddy White has now been targeted eight or more times in 11 straight games, during that span he has five games of 100-plus yards and six touchdowns. This week White takes on NFC South rival Carolina. Carolina had been dynamite against the pass in the first two weeks of the season, but inexplicably let Ramses Barden torch them last Thursday to the tune of nine catches and 138 yards. White's career numbers against the Panthers have been great too, with more career receptions and receiving yards against Carolina than any other opponent.

Week Three Analysis: The Atlanta receiver that leads the targets, receptions and yards category is not named Julio Jones, it's Roddy White. While Jones has emerged as one of the best receivers in the game, White is still the favorite target of Matt Ryan. White has been targeted nine or more times in 11 of the Falcons last 13 games and only four other players averaged nine or more targets last season. Last season San Diego allowed six opposing receivers to be targeted nine or more times, the average output of those six players was six receptions and 99 yards.

Week Two Analysis: If you slept through the preseason, you missed the passing of the torch between the Falcons' top receivers from Roddy White to Julio Jones. It's not like Roddy has suddenly lost all value, but he's certainly trailing Jones from a fantasy standpoint. In White's seven years he's had 21 catches of 40 or more yards, but in the last two seasons he's grabbed only four passes for that distance. This wouldn't be super concerning in most cases, but that's the same amount as Harry Douglas over the last two seasons and Julio had seven catches of 40 or more yards last year. White is not gone and forgotten by any means. He's had 1,200 or more yards in four of the last five seasons and has had two consecutive 100 reception campaigns. The Broncos allowed 14 such deep balls last season, so if White is going to bust out for his biannual long ball, Monday night might be the one.

Week One Analysis: It's Atlanta Falcons wide receiver pop quiz time. Question 1: Which Falcons player had the most receptions and yards over the final five weeks of the season? For those of you who said Julio Jones, we have some lovely parting gifts for you. In Jones' breakout section of the schedule, Roddy White actually led the team with 24 more targets and 12 more receptions.  White remained the most targeted man by Matt Ryan by almost a two-to-one margin, and the preseason prowess of Jones will likely cause coverage to shift away from White. The Chiefs secondary remains very stout with Brandon Flowers and Stanford Routt at the corners, but the Falcons will overwhelm them with numbers, including White's.

NEXT: #6 STEVE SMITH