2005 Top First Half Fantasy Wide Receivers

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 Steve Smith 20 3 35 1 24 18 0 26 17 3 17 6 13 10 23 2 20 237 144 93
2 Santana Moss 10 28 0 9 12 29 17 3 8 8 5 13 6 6 8 34 8 203 116 87
3 Terrell Owens 11 26 14 23 5 0 11 22 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 113 113 0
4 Joey Galloway 10 0 17 23 9 16 0 21 14 19 0 14 14 4 4 10 16 189 110 80
5 Chad Johnson 10 20 20 7 11 20 9 7 9 0 25 15 5 2 17 18 6 201 104 97
6 Larry Fitzgerald 22 10 4 16 20 0 13 4 11 20 17 10 13 2 15 15 14 206 99 107
7 Plaxico Burress 14 6 11 32 0 6 14 4 8 5 17 11 5 4 3 4 19 163 96 68
8 Marvin Harrison 13 4 5 23 2 10 13 0 25 17 4 19 12 26 14 0 2 187 94 93
9 Torry Holt 13 13 22 14 19 7 0 0 0 11 19 19 8 10 8 22 4 187 88 100
10 Terry Glenn 4 22 14 6 24 6 4 7 0 9 4 6 10 26 3 15 4 162 86 76
11 Kevin Curtis 6 3 12 8 12 13 13 17 0 5 16 12 1 1 1 2 2 123 84 39
12 Anquan Boldin 6 12 11 18 23 0 2 13 0 0 19 12 22 12 19 14 8 189 83 106
13 Keenan McCardell 24 5 20 7 1 2 14 7 3 0 15 5 6 12 15 6 5 146 80 66
14 Donald Driver 5 17 5 15 5 0 17 9 6 11 20 5 6 3 6 11 12 153 79 75
15 Randy Moss 19 19 9 12 0 0 10 3 7 15 4 3 7 2 9 7 24 149 78 70
16 Deion Branch 16 6 8 1 11 9 0 15 12 8 10 5 4 8 3 7 8 130 77 53
17 Keyshawn Johnson 19 3 15 2 5 12 9 11 0 6 4 12 2 4 2 9 10 122 75 47
18 Reggie Wayne 5 2 10 11 8 12 9 0 18 7 18 6 11 8 9 2 0 136 74 61
19 Rod Smith 9 8 14 3 2 18 5 14 0 11 6 12 9 6 20 9 1 147 74 73
20 Hines Ward 3 20 23 0 8 0 10 8 1 18 8 9 26 9 1 17 4 165 73 92
21 Jimmy Smith 25 5 10 17 4 3 0 3 5 4 9 7 11 16 7 7 5 138 72 66
22 Eddie Kennison 8 6 11 19 0 0 3 18 6 4 18 7 11 17 2 2 15 145 70 75
23 Chris Chambers 10 3 15 0 6 8 15 9 4 19 1 11 30 24 9 18 8 188 69 119
24 Jerry Porter 5 7 4 4 0 6 4 24 13 3 20 6 5 10 3 3 8 124 67 57
25 Joe Jurevicius 12 7 2 2 20 9 5 0 9 3 4 26 0 12 9 3 7 129 65 64
26 Donte' Stallworth 5 14 0 13 1 14 11 5 10 0 20 11 2 4 16 5 6 137 63 74
27 T.J. Houshmandzadeh 8 20 1 11 0 0 9 14 6 0 5 21 22 11 12 7 3 150 63 88
28 Derrick Mason 10 12 0 5 7 9 4 9 6 6 4 12 3 5 10 16 7 125 61 64
29 Antonio Bryant 7 3 8 0 20 3 2 10 8 14 6 2 6 5 9 5 18 125 60 65
30 Ernest Wilford 1 3 10 2 7 2 0 21 15 1 11 3 4 2 3 18 10 110 59 51
31 Muhsin Muhammad 6 14 6 0 5 5 4 11 9 0 11 4 0 9 4 12 0 99 59 40
32 Brandon Lloyd 13 2 26 10 0 0 4 2 1 3 18 3 5 4 1 2 11 103 58 45
33 Laveranues Coles 7 13 2 2 9 3 10 0 12 3 6 4 4 3 11 19 8 115 57 58
34 Eric Moulds 4 1 2 1 12 12 4 19 0 3 4 8 0 0 11 10 16 106 54 51
35 David Givens 3 6 13 7 1 12 0 6 6 0 0 0 3 6 21 2 2 87 54 33
36 Antonio Chatman 1 8 11 10 1 0 9 10 4 3 1 0 5 0 6 6 9 84 53 31
37 Darrell Jackson 13 13 13 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 3 0 67 50 17
38 Marcus Robinson 2 6 8 2 0 4 12 14 1 1 0 21 3 5 4 0 0 84 49 35
39 Robert Ferguson 0 11 13 4 14 0 5 0 0 0 1 2 4 3 0 0 0 57 48 9
40 Brian Finneran 1 10 6 3 12 0 0 0 15 7 4 0 3 4 8 0 7 79 47 32
41 Drew Bennett 8 5 10 2 16 6 0 0 0 0 6 5 4 2 22 13 1 98 47 51
42 Ashley Lelie 2 6 7 1