The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding RB Rachaad White.
Is Rachaad White Playing in Week 16?
White is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Buccaneers’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Rachaad White in Week 16?
This backfield is slowly moving away from White, and I think that’s right, but it’s not going in that direction fast enough to render White useless. Bucky Irving played 62.5% of Tampa Bay’s first-quarter snaps last week, his highest rate since Week 6.
White didn’t help matters by losing a fumble last week in Los Angeles, but he salvaged the fantasy afternoon with an 11-yard touchdown catch as the Bucs poured it on late. I don’t have this projected as a committee situation, and that introduces risk to White’s profile, but as a road favorite with plenty of scoring equity, I don’t have a problem considering him a top-30 back in this matchup.
Even with a diminishing role, White has at least 10 carries in five straight in addition to his consistent usage in the passing game.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 16 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Rachaad White’s Fantasy Points Outlook in Week 16
As of Sunday morning, White is projected to score 13.6 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 11.5 rushing attempts for 43.2 yards and 0.2 touchdowns. It also includes 3.8 receptions for 28.9 yards and 0.2 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insight on the Panthers' Defense
Young's improvement has given hope to a franchise mired in a streak of six straight double-digit loss seasons. Panthers fans deserve to cling to any shred of hope they can find, but Sunday's win was a reminder that Young and the offense will need more support from the defense before Carolina can ever become a contender again.
The win over the Cardinals was mostly offense-driven, as the Panthers recorded a 70.5 (C-) grade on defense. That was actually Carolina's sixth-best performance of the season, yet still didn't crack the top 20 for Week 16.
Carolina's highest grade of the season is a C+. This has been by far its worst season in the last six years, grading as an F and considerably below what they did in 2023.
The Panthers are even worse than the Jaguars in that they don't rank in the top 20 in any statistical category that goes into Defense+. They rank last in EPA per rush (-0.07), third downs (47.7%), and pressure rate without blitzing (24.3%).
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Rachaad White’s Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 7:25 AM ET on Sunday, December 29. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Weekly Consensus Superflex Rankings.
Week 17 RB PPR Rankings
1) Saquon Barkley | PHI (vs. DAL)
2) Jahmyr Gibbs | DET (at SF)
3) Derrick Henry | BAL (at HOU)
4) Bijan Robinson | ATL (at WAS)
5) Josh Jacobs | GB (at MIN)
6) Jonathan Taylor | IND (at NYG)
7) Chase Brown | CIN (vs. DEN)
8) Kyren Williams | LAR (vs. ARI)
9) De'Von Achane | MIA (at CLE)
10) Bucky Irving | TB (vs. CAR)
11) James Conner | ARI (at LAR)
12) James Cook | BUF (vs. NYJ)
13) Tyjae Spears | TEN (at JAX)
14) Breece Hall | NYJ (at BUF)
15) Joe Mixon | HOU (vs. BAL)
16) Zach Charbonnet | SEA (at CHI)
17) Aaron Jones | MIN (vs. GB)
18) Jerome Ford | CLE (vs. MIA)
19) Brian Robinson Jr. | WAS (vs. ATL)
20) D'Andre Swift | CHI (vs. SEA)
21) Rico Dowdle | DAL (at PHI)
22) Tyrone Tracy Jr. | NYG (vs. IND)
23) Isaac Guerendo | SF (vs. DET)
24) Rhamondre Stevenson | NE (vs. LAC)
25) Rachaad White | TB (vs. CAR)
26) J.K. Dobbins | LAC (at NE)
27) Alexander Mattison | LV (at NO)
28) Jaylen Warren | PIT (vs. KC)
29) Isiah Pacheco | KC (at PIT)
30) Kimani Vidal | LAC (at NE)
31) Tank Bigsby | JAX (vs. TEN)
32) Javonte Williams | DEN (at CIN)
33) Kendre Miller | NO (vs. LV)
34) Najee Harris | PIT (vs. KC)
35) Travis Etienne Jr. | JAX (vs. TEN)
36) Ameer Abdullah | LV (at NO)
37) Kareem Hunt | KC (at PIT)
38) Devin Singletary | NYG (vs. IND)
39) Tyler Allgeier | ATL (at WAS)
40) Audric Estimé | DEN (at CIN)
41) Ray Davis | BUF (vs. NYJ)
42) Raheem Mostert | MIA (at CLE)
43) Antonio Gibson | NE (vs. LAC)
44) Kenneth Gainwell | PHI (vs. DAL)
45) Craig Reynolds | DET (at SF)
46) Cam Akers | MIN (vs. GB)
47) Ty Johnson | BUF (vs. NYJ)
48) Blake Corum | LAR (vs. ARI)
49) Roschon Johnson | CHI (vs. SEA)
50) Braelon Allen | NYJ (at BUF)
51) Patrick Taylor Jr. | SF (vs. DET)
52) Jeremy McNichols | WAS (vs. ATL)
53) Isaiah Davis | NYJ (at BUF)
54) Jaleel McLaughlin | DEN (at CIN)
55) D'Onta Foreman | CLE (vs. MIA)
56) Jamaal Williams | NO (vs. LV)
57) Cordarrelle Patterson | PIT (vs. KC)
58) Emanuel Wilson | GB (at MIN)
59) DeeJay Dallas | ARI (at LAR)
60) Chris Brooks | GB (at MIN)
61) Pierre Strong Jr. | CLE (vs. MIA)
62) Ke'Shawn Vaughn | SF (vs. DET)
63) Keaton Mitchell | BAL (at HOU)
64) Trey Benson | ARI (at LAR)
65) Raheem Blackshear | CAR (at TB)
66) Sean Tucker | TB (vs. CAR)
67) Israel Abanikanda | SF (vs. DET)
68) Michael Carter | ARI (at LAR)
69) Samaje Perine | KC (at PIT)
70) Ezekiel Elliott | DAL (at PHI)
71) Mike Boone | CAR (at TB)
72) Khalil Herbert | CIN (vs. DEN)
73) Dare Ogunbowale | HOU (vs. BAL)
74) Jaylen Wright | MIA (at CLE)
75) Kyle Juszczyk | SF (vs. DET)
76) Trey Sermon | IND (at NYG)
77) Chris Rodriguez Jr. | WAS (vs. ATL)
78) Sione Vaki | DET (at SF)
79) Hunter Luepke | DAL (at PHI)
80) Dameon Pierce | HOU (vs. BAL)
81) Alec Ingold | MIA (at CLE)
82) Tyler Goodson | IND (at NYG)
83) Hassan Haskins | LAC (at NE)
84) Kenny McIntosh | SEA (at CHI)
85) Jordan Mims | NO (vs. LV)
86) Rasheen Ali | BAL (at HOU)
87) Ty Chandler | MIN (vs. GB)
88) C.J. Ham | MIN (vs. GB)
89) Michael Burton | DEN (at CIN)
90) Julius Chestnut | TEN (at JAX)
91) Eric Gray | NYG (vs. IND)
92) Dylan Laube | LV (at NO)
93) Adam Prentice | NO (vs. LV)
94) Patrick Ricard | BAL (at HOU)
95) Carson Steele | KC (at PIT)
96) Keilan Robinson | JAX (vs. TEN)
97) Darrynton Evans | BUF (vs. NYJ)
98) Blake Watson | DEN (at CIN)
99) Clyde Edwards-Helaire | KC (at PIT)
Panthers at Buccaneers Trends and Insights
Carolina Panthers
Team: The Panthers have won a game that wasn’t decided in overtime or by less than a field goal once since the beginning of last season (Week 3 at Raiders: 36-22).
QB: Splash plays? Bryce Young has a 30+ yard completion in four of his past five games and a 10+ yard rush in five of his past six.
Offense: The Panthers have turned 13 of their past 14 goal-to-go situations into touchdowns.
Defense: Sunday was the seventh time this season in which the Panthers allowed points on the majority of opponent drives.
Fantasy: Adam Thielen has caught 5+ passes in all four games this month and has scored in three of his past six, but he has just two games this season with 60+ receiving yards.
Betting: The Panthers are 4-11 ATS in their last 15 road games. Carolina covered in Philadelphia in Week 14 – they haven’t covered consecutive road games since Weeks 11-14 in 2022.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Team: The Buccaneers are 4-3 since Week 9 with a +53 point differential. Over that stretch, the Chiefs are 7-1 with a +28 point differential, the Rams are 6-2 with a +12 point differential, and the Steelers hold an identical 4-3 mark while being outscored by 14 points.
QB: Baker Mayfield’s touchdown pass under pressure on Sunday night was his first since his TD pass in Week 1 against the Commanders.
Offense: Odd but true – the Bucs are just 1-3 this season when scoring a touchdown on 100% of their red zone trips and 7-4 otherwise.
Defense: From Weeks 8-12, Tampa Bay allowed their opponents to convert 53.8% of third downs. Since then, that rate has plummeted to 30%
Fantasy: Jalen McMillan has three straight games with at least four catches and a touchdown reception – over the past 20 years, only three rookies have topped that streak (Odell Beckham Jr., Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Tank Dell).
Betting: The Buccaneers are just 1-6 ATS in their past seven home divisional games (the lone cover, however, was in Week 17 of 2022 against the Panthers).