Roddy White plummets 41 spots in top 100 ranking
Falcons wide receiver Roddy White did not do a flip over his current Top 100 ranking.
BIRDLAND — Falcons wide receiver Roddy White dropped 41 spots on “NFL Network’s The Top 100: Players of 2012” show on Wednesday.
After leading the league with 115 catches after the 2010 season, he was ranked 24th. He caught 100 passes for 1,296 yards and eight touchdowns last season, but also led the league in drops with 15.
White, the controversial Twitter master and Pro Bowl receiver, was fine with being on the list, but believes he was ranked too low.
Steelers safety Troy Polamalu (front) intercepts a pass intended for Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White in the fourth quarter. Associated Press
“I don’t have an argument; I’m just happy to be on this list,” White said. “But not where I’m at. I’m not happy with where I’m at on the list; I’m happy to be on the list.”
White cited his dropped passes, most of which came early in the season, for his plummet in the rankings.
“Probably the dropped passes; I led the league in drops, which is unacceptable,” White said. “I have to go out there and I have to play better, I have to hold onto the ball. But other than that, I feel like I performed well, I felt like I did pretty well this season.
“I felt that I should have been at least in the top five [wide receivers]; right now I’m fighting to be in the top 10. I’m kind of confused right now.”
White believes that adding Julio Jones last season has helped him tremendously. Jones finished with 54 catches for 959 yards and eight touchdowns while basically playing in 11 games. He missed two games and major parts of three others with hamstring injuries.
Roddy White reacts to making a first down catch after returning to the game. Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com
“He’s done wonders for me,” White said. “I get a lot more one-on-one coverages and things like that. And I’m mad that Julio isn’t on the list! Unless he’s ahead of me, but I’m saying that would be ridiculous [laughing]. I’m not saying that in that form or fashion because he’s going to be a great player for years to come and he’s very explosive.”
The Falcons were 13-3 in 2011 and finished 10-6 last season. The team’s three-game slide may have hurt White’s ranking.
“The schedule was a little bit harder,” White said. “Anytime you win 13 games you play all of the big dogs the following year. That was tough on us but like you said, we have to go out there and win 13, 14 [games], try to go undefeated. Maybe I’ll move up the list a little bit.”
Falcons running back Michael Turner was ranked 88 in an earlier show. White doesn’t believe the show is giving the Falcons the proper amount of respect.
“And he was third in the league in rushing,” White said. “How do you be [No. 88] on the countdown and you’re third in the league in rushing?”
White was also asked about quarterback Matt Ryan and if he was a top eight quarterback.
“He’s got to be one of the top eight quarterbacks,” White said. “In this league, in the league that we play in right now, he’s got to be at least in the top eight.”
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–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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108 comments Add your comment
Taint nuttin
May 18th, 2012
10:51 pm
What is the Taint’s blog?
Falcon James
May 19th, 2012
12:45 am
Is there a Saint blog? I figure the Saint fan was here because he had no place else to go. I don;t think even the Saint fan think his team will a game this year. They is just too much distraction in that organization to make them relevant. If the only game they win is against the Falcon, they will still be irrelevant.
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Torry
May 19th, 2012
7:30 pm
Roddy White is right were he belongs…a top WR makes an impact on the game in critical moments..Roddy White doesnt..granted Matt Ryan cant throw the ball 20 yards down the field you still as a top WR “allegedly” have to make a play when you do get the ball…And as far as Michael Turner..just like Roddy White padding the stat sheet…anybody that saw the falcons last year saw that they should’ve went out and got a young back..Michael Turner’s best days are behind him…#falconssuperbowlbound..
hiramsaint
May 20th, 2012
7:09 pm
falcant james-winning against the failclowns is a given. now thats relevant!
Malcom
May 21st, 2012
8:40 am
THE most irrelevant thing is hiramsaint. (Ye with the broken caps button…..fool.)
Falconidiot
May 21st, 2012
6:12 pm
Roddy was spectacular in 2010 he was by far the best Falcon and it must have gone to his head or something went wrong because he couldn’t get separation in single coverage last year. Hopefully his ego will get focused this year. Julio was better in every way when given the oppurtunity, maybe that’s Roddy’s problem.
DR. FALCON
May 24th, 2012
12:52 am
BACK TO BACK 100 CATCH SEASONS! ENOUGH SAID! BY THE WAY, ONE DAY CLOSER TO THAT WEEK 9 MATCHUP, WITH THE COWGIRLS, AT THE DOME! I’D RATHER LOSE TO THE SAINTS! OOH, OOH! DID I SAY THAT? BUT, F@#K THE COWBOYS!