Roddy White has been a tremendous piece of the Atlanta Falcons‘ offense for 11 seasons now, and is inarguably one of the best players they’ve ever had. That being said, it’s time to move on.
There’s a number of reasons why, but the main one is that White has become old and near ineffective in a young and thriving offense. Julio Jones has the No. 1 receiver spot by its throat, tallying 478 yards and four touchdowns through four games. Conversely, White’s had a slow start to the year to say the least.
Especially with the emergence of recently-acquired Leonard Hankerson, Roddy is almost obsolete. Matt Ryan and the Falcons’ offense have targeted him just 13 times all season, amounting to four total catches for 92 yards and zero touchdowns (thanks for the fantasy points, Roddy).
What’s also adding to the fact that Roddy is more than likely on his way out is the new-look running game of Atlanta. Rookie Devonta Freeman has been plain going off since taking over the starting role, and will actually look to tie the NFL record for consecutive three-touchdown games this Sunday.
Now that Atlanta can rely on the run more, their offense has balanced out, and leaves less balls out there for Roddy, who has expressed his frustration through the media (via Vaughn McClure, ESPN.com):
…at the end of the day, I want to catch passes. I’m not out here just f*cking around just to sit around to just block f*cking people all day. It’s not what I want to do. I’ve contributed to offenses for this franchise for the last nine, 10 years. It always bothers me when I go out and don’t catch any balls in a game because it hasn’t happened in so long.
It’s understandable. Being so talented and having the stats to back it up, yet having a decreased role is surely frustrating.
So what are the options?
Well, it’s still early in the season. There are teams that are suffering from having injured players, and other teams whose formulas that were constructed in the offseason are just failing. One of these teams is undoubtedly open to a trade for Roddy White, it’ll just have to be the right price.
No one is trying to drop a big contract on a 33-year-old receiver, but not every 33-year-old receiver is Roddy White, whom we shouldn’t forget had 80 catches and seven TDs a year ago.
It seems as though the Roddy White saga is just beginning, and it will definitely make for an interesting storyline to follow throughout the rest of the season.