Roddy White: Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan just needs a running game

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White will always speak his mind. He will tell his own mother her meatloaf sucks if it in fact sucks. But he's also fiercely loyal, and if you're playing professional football, there aren't many guys you'd rather go to battle with.

Matt Ryan and Roddy have been together for a long time now. They've experienced highs, lows, and Levine Toilolo at right tackle. In short, there's no shortage of respect and admiration between these two. Per ESPN's Vaughn McClure, Roddy is excited about Ryan this season.

"This offense, basically everything is played off the run game," White explained. "When Matt first came into the league his rookie year, Michael Turner kind of ran wild in the league. Matt was just out there handling the game and everything was coming easy to him. That's what we need to get back to: where we can run the ball. We want to get our running game going to make life easier on everybody else, especially Matt."

If you read McClure's piece, one thing is clear: Roddy believes in Ryan. Roddy also has a very complete understanding of the game. While Ryan has a lot of natural talent, he needs a balanced offense to get over that hump. While we're at it, he needs a defense that isn't a complete embarrassment. Sure, once upon a time Ryan had a very dynamic offense at his disposal. But that was a long time ago, and back then, he was more of game manager than anything.

As supporting casts go, Ryan's in 2015 is looking pretty good. A big part of that, as Roddy astutely points out, is the running game. Your thoughts?