The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the New Orleans Saints in Week 18. 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 18?
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 18?
Let’s call it what it is: Rachaad White is a complementary back. He was fantasy gold last season and at points through the first half of the season, but those days are very much behind us with the Bucky Irving era officially underway.
Buccaneers RBs Week 17 participation rates:
- Bucky Irving: 54.1% snap share and 20.2 expected points
- White: 36.5% snap share and 4.6 expected points
- Sean Tucker: 20.3% snap share and 5.5 expected points
Over the past two weeks, White has as many targets as carries (nine), and while I think he holds value in the right spots (a spot that we might get access to during the postseason), I don’t think this is one of those spots with the Bucs installed as a 13.5-point favorite.
The Saints haven’t reached 20 points in a game since coming out of their Week 12 bye and are unlikely to compete at a high level this week. White is averaging just 3.7 yards per carry this season when not facing the Panthers or Falcons this season — neither of those teams are on the opposing sideline this week, so in a run-centric script, give me all of Irving’s touches and nothing but scraps for White.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 18 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Rachaad White’s Fantasy Points Outlook in Week 18
As of Sunday, White is projected to score 11.9 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 10.1 rushing attempts for 37.9 yards and 0.2 touchdowns. It also includes 3.3 receptions for 25.3 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 Saints' Defense
Although the Saints had an ugly season overall before Dennis Allen's firing, the defense stood out as an issue. Allen was the former DC under Sean Payton, and when his defense ranked well below its sixth-place finish from last year (and 13th in 2022), the writing was on the wall.
Since his firing, New Orleans had alternated top-six weeks with bottom-15 performances. However, they appear to be plateauing after their third straight mediocre-to-bad performance in Week 17 vs. the Raiders.
The Saints recorded a 72.3 (C-) grade in their regular-season home finale. Even against the worst run defense in the NFL, the Saints averaged 0.11 EPA per rush allowed. That's somehow the fifth-best mark for New Orleans in a game this season but still ranks in the bottom half of all teams in Week 17.
For the season, the Saints rank 30th in both EPA per rush (-0.04) and success rate (55.2%). They still stay in the top 20 thanks to a top-15 pass defense by success rate and EPA per play, despite their starting outside cornerbacks being gone since midseason due to trade (Marshon Lattimore) or season-ending injury (Paulson Adebo).
Ultimately, the abysmal run defense places a pretty firm cap on New Orleans' defensive ceiling, particularly since the injury-riddled offense isn't strong enough to force defenses to play from behind and abandon the run.
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 7:00 AM ET on Sunday, January 5. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Week 18 Consensus Superflex Rankings.
Week 18 RB PPR Rankings
1) Bijan Robinson | ATL (vs. CAR)
2) Jahmyr Gibbs | DET (vs. MIN)
3) Derrick Henry | BAL (vs. CLE)
4) Jonathan Taylor | IND (vs. JAX)
5) Josh Jacobs | GB (vs. CHI)
6) Bucky Irving | TB (vs. NO)
7) Chase Brown | CIN (at PIT)
8) Aaron Jones | MIN (at DET)
9) De'Von Achane | MIA (at NYJ)
10) Zach Charbonnet | SEA (at LAR)
11) Brian Robinson Jr. | WAS (at DAL)
12) Breece Hall | NYJ (vs. MIA)
13) Ray Davis | BUF (at NE)
14) D'Andre Swift | CHI (at GB)
15) Rico Dowdle | DAL (vs. WAS)
16) Isaac Guerendo | SF (at ARI)
17) J.K. Dobbins | LAC (at LV)
18) Najee Harris | PIT (vs. CIN)
19) Jaleel McLaughlin | DEN (vs. KC)
20) Joe Mixon | HOU (at TEN)
21) Tyrone Tracy Jr. | NYG (at PHI)
22) Kenneth Gainwell | PHI (vs. NYG)
23) Blake Corum | LAR (vs. SEA)
24) Tank Bigsby | JAX (at IND)
25) Jaylen Warren | PIT (vs. CIN)
26) Travis Etienne Jr. | JAX (at IND)
27) Rhamondre Stevenson | NE (vs. BUF)
28) Michael Carter | ARI (vs. SF)
29) Rachaad White | TB (vs. NO)
30) D'Onta Foreman | CLE (at BAL)
31) Kimani Vidal | LAC (at LV)
32) Miles Sanders | CAR (at ATL)
33) Tyler Allgeier | ATL (vs. CAR)
34) Audric Estimé | DEN (vs. KC)
35) Will Shipley | PHI (vs. NYG)
36) Alexander Mattison | LV (vs. LAC)
37) Antonio Gibson | NE (vs. BUF)
38) Javonte Williams | DEN (vs. KC)
39) Raheem Blackshear | CAR (at ATL)
40) Ty Johnson | BUF (at NE)
41) Devin Singletary | NYG (at PHI)
42) Cam Akers | MIN (at DET)
43) Raheem Mostert | MIA (at NYJ)
44) Roschon Johnson | CHI (at GB)
45) Craig Reynolds | DET (vs. MIN)
46) Kenny McIntosh | SEA (at LAR)
47) Jeremy McNichols | WAS (at DAL)
48) Cordarrelle Patterson | PIT (vs. CIN)
49) Braelon Allen | NYJ (vs. MIA)
50) Julius Chestnut | TEN (vs. HOU)
51) Samaje Perine | KC (at DEN)
52) Patrick Taylor Jr. | SF (at ARI)
53) Sean Tucker | TB (vs. NO)
54) Jamaal Williams | NO (at TB)
55) Isaiah Davis | NYJ (vs. MIA)
56) Chris Brooks | GB (vs. CHI)
57) Pierre Strong Jr. | CLE (at BAL)
58) Clyde Edwards-Helaire | NO (at TB)
59) Emanuel Wilson | GB (vs. CHI)
60) Mike Boone | CAR (at ATL)
61) Tony Pollard | TEN (vs. HOU)
62) DeeJay Dallas | ARI (vs. SF)
63) Chris Rodriguez Jr. | WAS (at DAL)
64) Dare Ogunbowale | HOU (at TEN)
65) Rasheen Ali | BAL (vs. CLE)
66) Khalil Herbert | CIN (at PIT)
67) Trey Sermon | IND (vs. JAX)
68) Hassan Haskins | LAC (at LV)
69) Kyle Juszczyk | SF (at ARI)
70) Dameon Pierce | HOU (at TEN)
71) Jaylen Wright | MIA (at NYJ)
72) Carson Steele | KC (at DEN)
73) Sione Vaki | DET (vs. MIN)
74) Hunter Luepke | DAL (vs. WAS)
75) Tyler Goodson | IND (vs. JAX)
76) Ke'Shawn Vaughn | SF (at ARI)
77) Alec Ingold | MIA (at NYJ)
78) C.J. Ham | MIN (at DET)
79) Michael Burton | DEN (vs. KC)
80) D'Ernest Johnson | JAX (at IND)
81) Jeff Wilson Jr. | MIA (at NYJ)
82) Eric Gray | NYG (at PHI)
83) Jermar Jefferson | DET (vs. MIN)
84) Patrick Ricard | BAL (vs. CLE)
85) Joshua Kelley | NYG (at PHI)
86) Ty Chandler | MIN (at DET)
87) Israel Abanikanda | SF (at ARI)
88) Adam Prentice | NO (at TB)
89) Dylan Laube | LV (vs. LAC)
90) JaMycal Hasty | NE (vs. BUF)
91) George Holani | SEA (at LAR)
92) James Cook | BUF (at NE)
Saints at Buccaneers Trends and Insights
New Orleans Saints
Team: The Saints have held the ball for under 23 minutes in consecutive games, totaling 10 points on 106 offensive plays over that stretch
QB: Spencer Rattler has completed 56% of his passes just once this season and has two more multi-interception games than he has multi-TD games.
Offense: The Saints converted just one-of-10 third downs on Sunday, their lowest rate of the season (four games under 30% this season),
Defense: The Saints have allowed a score on the majority of opponent drives four times this season, two coming over the past two weeks.
Fantasy: Foster Moreau and Juwan Johnson chewed up 44.1% of New Orleans’ targets and 45% of their receptions.
Betting: New Orleans has covered six straight road divisional games in which they’ve closed as an underdog.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Team: Since the beginning of November, Tampa Bay is 5-3, a record that could have swung even more in their favor (one overtime loss and the other two coming by no more than three points).
QB: Baker Mayfield's average QB+ is 78.6 this season. That ranks favorably to 2020 Tom Brady (77.9) as he led the Bucs to a Super Bowl win.
Offense: On Sunday, Bucky Irving became the second player this season with a 30+ yard catch and a 30+ yard run in multiple games, joining Saquon Barkley.
Defense: For the first time this season, Tampa Bay has failed to force a turnover in consecutive games.
Fantasy: Jalen McMillan has a touchdown catch in four straight games, the longest streak by a rookie since Lee Evans (2004).
Betting: The Bucs are 6-2 ATS over their past eight games and have seen over tickets cash in each of their past three.