Roddy White

A badly sprained ankle hampered White for much of the season and eventually cost him three games, the first ones he’s missed in his nine-year career. The result was largely a lost season for the 32-year old, but there’s reason to think he’s not ready for assisted living just yet. Over the last five games of the season when he was finally healthy, White caught 43 of his 60 targets for 502 yards (8.37 YPT) and two scores. Prorate that out to 16 games, and he’d have 138 catches for 1606 yards and six touchdowns. While White probably won’t see that kind of volume in 2014 with Julio Jones around, it does at least prove he can still be effective – albeit in more of a possession role. At 6-0, 212 and with decent speed (his 4.47 Combine time was so long ago, he’s probably lost a step since), White still has passable athletic skills, but has made his living lately on reliability, toughness, ball skills and excellent hands. And his longstanding rapport with Matt Ryan assures him a decent target floor even if Jones has supplanted him as the playmaker in the offense.

It's not often receivers become more efficient into their 30s, but like teammate Tony Gonzalez, White seemed ageless in 2012. White averaged 9.5 YPT (6th among the league's 100-target WR) and 14.7 YPC (11th). While the 6-0, 212-pound White no longer has above-average speed, he still managed 18 catches of 20-plus and four of 40-plus. Of course, part of White's efficiency was due to his excellent hands – he dropped only four of his 143 targets (2.8%, 6th). White saw a fair number of red-zone looks (20, T-6th), but converted only four in part due to teammates Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez nabbing 10 targets each from inside the 10 to White's eight. While the precise distribution near the goal line could change in 2013, there's little doubt those throws will be spread around. As such, White lacks the upside of the elite receivers on the board, but keep in mind he's never missed a game in eight seasons and is working on a streak of six with 1,150 or more receiving yards.

In 2010, White was the only game in town, leading the NFL with 179 targets and averaging a pedestrian 7.8 yards per target. Last year, the Falcons added Julio Jones, and somehow White got 180 targets, but his YPT actually declined further to 7.2 (25th among the league’s 32 100-target WR). Part of the problem was a league-leading 14 drops, but it also didn’t help that he had just one catch of 40-plus yards, while Jones – in 13 games – had six. Still, there’s something to be said for being the hardest working – and most durable – receiver in the league as White had 1,296 yards and eight scores despite his below average efficiency. At 6-0, 212, White has good size and decent speed, but he’s both smaller and less explosive than Jones who should take on a larger role in Year 2. That said, as long as Matt Ryan looks for White 150-plus times – something that’s likely given their rapport and White’s role in the offense – he’s going to back into decent numbers by season’s end.

Talk about being the only game in town. While White led the NFL with 179 targets and 115 catches, the team's No. 2 wideout was Michael Jenkins with just 73 and 41, respectively. Veteran tight end Tony Gonzalez caught 70 balls, and third-down back Jason Snelling caught 44, but White was Matt Ryan's primary target all over the field, including 24 times in the red zone (2nd). At 6-1, 207, White has good size and enough speed to get deep, but a look at his per-play numbers (12.1 YPC, 7.8 YPT, 3 catches of 40-plus) shows he's more reliable (only six drops) than spectacular. There's something to be said for reliable, however, and given that White's in the prime of his career and playing with the same quarterback with whom he has such a good rapport, we're looking at a receiver whose floor is among the highest in the league. Atlanta's mortgaging of the farm to draft the 6-3, 220-pound Julio Jones out of Alabama should cut into White's targets, particularly in the red zone, but it should also boost his per-play efficiency.

White had the best fantasy season of his career in 2009, thanks to his 11 touchdowns, four more than his previous career high. But it took him a whopping 165 targets to get there (2nd), as he averaged just 13.2 yards per catch, a career low. Moreover, he hauled in just 52 percent of the balls thrown his way, and averaged 7.2 yards per target (26th among the league's 28 100-target receivers). Part of this was due to the Falcons passing game declining generally - quarterback Matt Ryan's YPA fell from 7.9 during his rookie season to 6.5 last year, and that was despite the addition of Tony Gonzalez. At 6-1, 207, and with good speed, White is able to do damage down field and makes good adjustments to the ball in the air. White was also an excellent goal-line target last year, hauling in five of his eight looks inside the 10 for scores. But Gonzalez had more targets than White inside the 20, 10 and five-yard lines, so unless White replicates his uncanny efficiency on throws into the end zone, double-digit touchdowns will probably be a long shot. Finally, so long as Michael Turner is healthy, the Falcons like to run the ball from in close - Ryan attempted only 20 throws from inside the 10 in 14 games, tied for 19th. The bottom line: there's some upside here should Ryan take another step forward in Year 3, but the Falcons are a run-first team and have another major red-zone target in the fold in Gonzalez. Temper expectations.

After trying unsuccessfully to corral Michael Vick’s erratic bullets for his first two years in the league, White’s working conditions have since improved. A lot. With Matt Ryan surpassing all expectations in his rookie season, White is now the top wideout in one of the league’s better passing games, and last season he took full advantage, with 9.3 yards per target (good for 4th among the league’s 35 100-target wideouts). White did much of his damage down the field with 18 receptions of 20 yards or more (6th), four of 40-plus (tied for 13th) and a 15.7-yard average (7th). This isn’t surprising as White has all the physical skills you’d want in a deep threat. At 6-0, 208, he has above-average size, and he has the speed and burst to get behind defenses and the athleticism to go up over smaller defenders and make adjustments to the ball in the air. White does have occasional lapses in concentration as his nine drops tied him for fifth in the league. But when you consider he was seventh in targets with 148, being tied for fifth in drops isn’t cause for alarm. White wasn’t a big source of touchdowns, in large part because the Falcons didn’t target him (or any other wide receiver) in the red zone much (16 looks, tied for 19th). In fact, Ryan attempted just 64 passes from inside the 20, good for 14th in the league – and he was one of only 18 quarterbacks to play all 16 games. Put differently, the Falcons preferred to run the ball from in close last season. While the arrival of tight end Tony Gonzalez might change that, it’s not likely to benefit White and might even cost him some red zone targets. The bottom line is that White’s a top talent in the prime of his career playing with one of the league’s rising stars at quarterback. Just keep in mind the Falcons are a run-first team, especially in the red zone, and when they do throw from in close, Gonzalez is likely to be the target at least as often as White.

We touted White in 2006 as a potential breakout candidate. It looks like we were a year too early. White's third season in the pros saw him rack up an impressive 14.5 yards per catch and 8.8 yards per target (sixth among the 34 receivers with 100-plus targets) – while tracking down passes from Joey Harrington, Chris Redman and Byron Leftwich. It's not likely to get too much better in 2008 with Redman, highly touted rookie Matt Ryan and Harrington, but Ryan has some potential in the second half, and at least it shouldn't get much worse. At 6-0, 208, White has decent size and the speed to beat defenses deep. While he had just two passes of 40 or more yards, he caught 19 for 20-plus (tied for 5th). White's focus and routerunning improved, perhaps in part due to playingwith quarterbacks who are looking to pass rather than scramble. (We imagine Michael Vick was a tough quarterback for receivers to jell with). White saw just 11 red-zone looks (teammate Michael Jenkins had 10), in part because the Falcons offense didn’t make many trips into that area (29th in PPG, 23rd in YPG). The addition of Michael Turner could improve things slightly, but unless Ryan learns very quickly for a rookie QB, we don't expect an overnight turnaround from the unit as a whole.

White has not provided the Falcons with anything close to first round production the past two seasons, and he may be running out of chances. He will battle rookie Laurent Robinson and Fred Gibson for the third receiver spot, a position that will got a lot of action in Atlanta's new offense. White has had trouble hanging onto the ball in the past, so he will have to kick that habit in order to get on the field. The Falcons really like Robinson, so White will need a big camp in order to see consistent playing time this season. If he earns the third spot, he could put a few touchdowns on the board, but won't provide much for yardage or receptions.

At 6-0, 208, White has decent size and excellent deep speed. He’s got good body control, adjusts well while the ball is in the air and is an explosive runner after the catch. He’s not much of a route runner yet and he’s not adept at finding the holes in zone defenses. White caught just 43 percent of the balls thrown his way last year, but he averaged 15.3 yards per catch on the few he managed to get a hold of. He’s still raw, but we feel he’s got the most upside of the Atlanta receivers ñ though if the team continues to rely so heavily on the run, that’s not saying a whole lot.

White is the explosive threat that Michael Vick has always wanted and will have an opportunity to ameliorate a feeble passing game depending on how quickly he develops. Keep in mind this offense is run-first oriented.