2005 Top First Half Fantasy Tight Ends

The Players Who Were Strong Out of the Gate

Stats that reflect a player's season totals are often misleading. The NFL season lasts a long time, and players often have impressive stretches of play that get lost in the shuffle.

There are a lot of reasons why certain players have a great first half but tail off later in the year. Injuries to them or their teammates are often the cause, but other factors like strength of schedule can play a role too.

However, there are also a class of players that are simply known as fast starters. Year after year they come out strong out of the gate and post gaudy early season numbers before the grind of the season wears them down.  

Identifying and acquiring these players is critical as the outcome of the first 8 games of the year often determines who will make the fantasy playoffs. A side bonus is you can ride these guys and then trade them off before their scoring declines.

We use the Freaks' standard scoring system and all of the scoring totals are rounded to the nearest whole number. 

So study hard, and come next fantasy draft you'll have the best stocked roster in your league. 

For more fantasy stats analysis, please see the NFLFreaks Stats Index.

Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends | Kickers | Team Defense / Special Teams

10 Yards Rushing/Receiving = 1 pt  |  20 Yards Passing = 1 pt  |  TD = 6 pts

Rank

Player

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

Season Total

1st Half Total

2nd Half Total
1 Antonio Gates 0 8 15 11 12 2 13 33 13 0 14 4 11 18 3 11 2 170 107 63
2 Jeremy Shockey 9 6 10 12 0 19 4 9 14 6 6 21 2 11 3 2 0 133 69 64
3 Alge Crumpler 5 7 4 8 16 5 7 0 7 4 11 22 5 9 1 6 2 120 58 62
4 Heath Miller 6 0 1 0 10 13 12 14 1 0 4 3 4 0 6 2 6 82 57 25
5 Jason Witten 1 4 15 5 8 12 5 7 0 3 2 14 1 15 10 1 11 112 56 56
6 L.J. Smith 3 18 5 13 2 0 6 6 1 6 8 3 5 3 0 1 7 86 54 32
7 Chris Cooley 3 2 0 6 14 11 5 2 9 7 7 3 12 3 25 10 1 119 52 67
8 Erron Kinney 6 1 6 4 3 5 6 7 13 0 4 10 0 0 0 1 0 66 52 14
9 Randy McMichael 12 14 8 0 9 2 3 2 2 8 0 12 4 1 4 4 4 88 51 37
10 Todd Heap 4 6 0 4 11 14 7 4 3 6 3 21 5 7 23 9 2 128 50 78
11 Jerramy Stevens 4 11 3 3 13 3 6 0 3 5 3 0 2 9 11 10 0 85 46 40
12 Tony Gonzalez 5 4 3 1 0 1 7 16 7 8 10 6 9 9 5 6 6 103 44 59
13 Marcus Pollard 12 3 0 1 0 11 1 4 10 5 1 2 1 1 4 4 11 70 40 30
14 Steve Heiden 3 22 1 0 1 4 1 4 2 0 3 6 0 9 1 1 0 58 38 20
15 Ben Troupe 9 1 8 3 13 2 2 1 0 0 0 3 7 3 12 0 15 77 38 39
16 Daniel Graham 2 6 0 0 18 1 0 2 10 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 42 38 4
17 Mike Sellers 0 0 0 6 6 0 14 0 9 7 0 0 0 0 6 0 6 55 36 19
18 Chris Baker 18 0 5 3 1 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 33 33 0
19 Jermaine Wiggins 3 2 6 3 0 7 6 4 1 4 7 7 0 2 1 10 2 63 31 32
20 Alex Smith 15 0 0 1 5 0 0 4 4 0 4 1 0 1 3 8 2 49 30 19
21 Courtney Anderson 14 0 10 3 0 1 0 0 3 2 2 5 8 1 0 0 0 48 28 20
22 Desmond Clark 3 2 0 0 1 14 5 1 1 4 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 35 26 9
23 Dallas Clark 0 0 1 5 4 3 11 0 0 8 19 2 4 1 11 4 0 73 25 48
24 David Martin 1 0 1 13 7 0 3 0 0 0 0 10 2 4 1 1 0 42 25 18
25 Kris Mangum 2 2 3 6 3 0 0 6 1 0 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 32 24 8
26 Donald Lee 0 0 0 8 9 0 2 3 2 3 4 2 4 2 2 1 1 41 23 18
27 Ben Watson 6 1 1 2 9 1 0 0 4 16 7 1 4 4 0 4 10 68 23 45
28 Ernie Conwell 7 0 13 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 23 0
29 Bubba Franks 3 2 0 0 0 0 4 12 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 22 4
30 Bo Scaife 2 0 0 10 0 1 1 2 6 0 0 0 5 1 1 2 8 39 22 17
31 Jeb Putzier 7 2 0 2 3 3 2 4 0 5 3 7 5 1 6 2 0 50 22 28
32 Daniel Wilcox 14 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 21 19 2
33 Matt Schobel 0 10 0 2 2 1 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 2 3 2 27 17 10
34 Michael Gaines 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 7 0 1 2 8 0 0 0 0 0 28 17 10
35 Aaron Shea 0 0 0 0 7 2 1 7 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 21 16 5
36 Stephen Alexander 1 1 1 3 0 1 2 7 0 1 1 0 1 2 1 2 1 23 14 9
37 George Wrighster 3 0 0 1 10 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7 2 0 0 0 24 14 10
38 Dwayne Carswell 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 12 0
39 Ryan Hannam 0 0 1 2 1 0 7 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 15 11 4
40 Robert Royal 1 2 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 1 1 0 19 11 9
41 Brandon Manumaleuna 7 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 5 0 0 1 1 0 0 3 19 10 9
42 Casey Fitzsimmons 0 1 0 1 6 0 1 0 0 0 0