2005 Top Second Half Fantasy Running Backs

Coming on Strong to the Finish Line

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 second half after a slow start. Injuries to them or their teammates are often the cause, but other factors like strength of schedule can play a role too.

However, there is also a class of players that are simply known as slow starters. Year after year they come out poorly out of the gate and post weak early season numbers before they find their flow and start to pump out the stats.

Identifying and acquiring these players can be critical as they are good value selections in the next draft. A lot of impressions get created in the first half of the season, which translates to your competition under-valuing talented players.

Another point is that the second half studs are often not slow starters, but emerging stars who only began to get their opportunity later in the season.

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 Larry Johnson 24 10 1 3 0 6 18 8 28 18 34 23 27 35 30 30 40 335 98 237
2 Shaun Alexander 7 22 38 16 26 38 6 0 29 35 24 17 17 19 23 33 13 364 182 182
3 Tiki Barber 18 21 7 20 0 7 17 27 10 29 13 18 12 26 37 13 32 307 127 180
4 Clinton Portis 12 8 0 11 13 13 29 2 14 23 9 11 26 18 12 25 24 249 101 147
5 Rudi Johnson 20 9 8 9 8 14 7 7 17 0 21 24 22 24 25 10 2 227 83 144
6 LaDainian Tomlinson 13 17 47 29 19 36 3 16 39 0 15 39 11 8 9 7 16 324 181 143
7 Mike Anderson 1 9 16 14 5 12 18 20 0 13 31 4 22 2 22 13 0 201 94 106
8 Edgerrin James 11 17 20 16 21 34 27 0 17 21 23 12 18 15 11 6 0 268 163 106
9 Ricky Williams 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 8 11 3 8 16 14 3 13 24 17 120 22 97
10 Cadillac Williams 21 19 16 2 0 0 0 3 5 2 19 9 10 24 3 22 8 162 65 97
11 DeShaun Foster 6 6 8 9 9 0 0 6 4 6 6 10 30 5 8 8 23 143 47 96
12 Samkon Gado 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 13 29 4 18 15 24 5 0 0 108 14 94
13 Reuben Droughns 10 8 11 0 9 6 11 10 19 18 23 12 9 8 8 7 5 172 83 89
14 Julius Jones 17 11 23 9 7 0 0 0 0 2 11 6 16 4 10 33 4 152 67 85
15 Willie Parker 27 17 6 0 4 6 19 8 2 0 14 7 8 11 10 19 15 173 89 84
16 Thomas Jones 11 28 17 0 14 22 14 10 4 0 9 12 9 16 15 17 6 203 119 84
17 Chris Brown 6 6 9 5 9 23 4 17 16 0 24 20 4 10 6 2 0 160 79 81
18 Warrick Dunn 12 5 10 19 11 18 16 0 17 19 10 12 9 11 9 6 4 188 108 80
19 LaMont Jordan 11 15 13 21 0 21 34 20 14 11 9 26 7 8 17 0 0 227 149 78
20 Domanick Davis 6 15 0 11 17 13 17 12 0 0 17 18 17 25 0 0 0 167 90 77
21 Jerome Bettis 0 0 0 0 13 0 6 2 0 9 0 1 10 22 2 8 22 95 21 74
22 Corey Dillon 21 4 20 15 12 0 0 19 7 0 0 0 14 19 18 20 0 169 98 72
23 Jamal Lewis 5 4 0 14 17 7 4 6 5 6 3 21 4 0 17 9 12 134 63 71
24 Michael Bennett 2 4 0 3 0 1 2 1 17 3 2 0 21 14 4 1 17 91 30 61
25 Steven Jackson 7 17 5 18 20 19 24 26 0 12 2 17 4 7 8 11 0 197 136 61
26 Tatum Bell 6 0 5 7 25 19 6 23 0 6 4 0 5 8 6 8 23 151 91 60
27 Willis McGahee 13 3 20 16 15 23 9 16 0 7 4 5 10 1 11 7 14 173 115 58
28 Greg Jones 1 3 1 1 2 15 0 0 9 17 4 14 11 5 5 0 0 88 31 57
29 Frank Gore 4 2 5 0 5 0 15 4 4 6 0 0 5 1 14 19 12 94 37 56
30 Marion Barber 0 0 0 0 0 5 10 26 0 11 17 3 1 11 6 3 4 96 41 55
31 Brian Westbrook 17 18 33 7 4 0 10 16 8 18 12 19 6 0 0 0 0 167 113 54
32 Maurice Hicks 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 5 9 0 0 17 8 54 0 54
33 Ronnie Brown 6 4 21 0 12 13 17 12 8 9 6 14 11 3 6 0 3 144 92 52
34 Jonathan Wells 1 1 0 2 1 2 0 0 16 14 0 3 1 0 22 12 0 75 23 52
35 T.J. Duckett 8 8 14 10 3 1 0 0 0 6 13 13 1 7 0 9 2 93 42 51
36 Antowain Smith 0 2 2 0 4 21 7 3 12 0 3 5 5 13 3 4 6 89 39 49
37 Mewelde Moore 0 4 10 12 0 11 17 9 8 0 14 8 0 1 1 9 16 119 70 49
38 Mike Alstott 1 9 0 1 2 2 0 2 8 18 7 8 0 2 1 10 3 74 26 49
39 Cedric Houston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 1 1 1 13 12 2 12 49 1 48
40 Ryan Moats 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 23 14 1 3 47 0 47
41 Aaron Stecker 0 0 0 0 0 9 7 4 5 0 10 6 6 5 10 2 3 65 19 46
42 J.J. Arrington 3 0 1 1 3 0 4 1 6 9 13 4 8 3 2 2 3 63 19 44
43 Kevin Jones 10 3 0 10 18 2 8 14 2 9 13 3 0 7 0 0 8 107 67 40
44 Artose Pinner 0 0 0 4 9 2 5 2 10 2 1 2 16 3 7 9 0 71 31 40
45 Michael Turner 1 1 1 4 0 5 0 0 2 0 11 0 9 0 17 0 0 52 12 40
46 Adrian Peterson 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 1 12 18 4 3 5 0 1 3 7 56 16 40
47 LaBrandon Toefield 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 20 16 40 1 39
48 Tony Fisher 2 6 0 0 6 0 3 12 0 0 4 4 8 0 5 8 6 65 29 36
49 Chester Taylor 5 3 0 6 7 10 2 12 4 0 9 0 5 7 4 6 5 84 48 36
50 Vernand Morency 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 10 3 19 39 4 35
51 Verron Haynes 9 3 3 0 0 1 4 1 1 11 2 0 0 4 4 13 2 57 22 35
52 Travis Henry 4 7 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 4 7 0 8 5 45 12 33
53 Marshall Faulk 2 2 14 4 0 6 4 3 0 5 0 1 0 6 11 5 3 66 34 32
54 Shawn Bryson 1 1 0 2 16 2 4 5 5 6 3 4 6 2 2 1 7 65 34 31
55 Heath Evans 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 12 10 4 0 0 0 2 3 32 2 30
56 Ron Dayne 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 3 1 0 2 6 35 5 29
57 Ladell Betts 4 2 0 4 3 0 10 0 3 11 0 0 0 1 10 5 3 54 25 29
58 Marcel Shipp 2 9 6 9 3 0 4 7 2 1 3 5 0 3 4 4 8 71 42 28
59 Kevan Barlow 10 7 9 6 13 0 11 12 5 6 4 12 0 6 0 0 0 100 72 28
60 Fred Taylor 9 10 16 3 13 0 0 23 6 0 0 0 0 2 7 17 0 106 79 27
61 Michael Pittman 0 7 0 19 9 20 0 1 4 2 1 2 6 2 1 3 10 86 59 27
62 Kevin Faulk 3 3 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 9 3 6 1 41 14 26
63 Curtis Martin 8 8 7 5 18 21 11 0 13 8 1 10 6 0 0 0 0 115 91 25
64 Noah Herron 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 9 12 24 0 24
65 Ciatrick Fason 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 7 1 1 8 0 0 6 31 7 24
66 Rock Cartwright 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 2 0 0 2 7 12 0 2 0 0 34 11 23
67 Patrick Pass 0 0 2 6 10 21 0 4 0 0 9 9 0 0 0 2 3 65 43 22
68 Alvin Pearman 0 0 3 4 3 6 0 5 4 1 2 3 0 0 1 5 9 46 25 21
69 Stephen Davis 14 26 5 19 11 3 0 17 17 14 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 131 111 20
70 Zack Crockett 2 3 1 0 0 0 12 0 0 2 2 0 4 0 1 8 3 38 18 20
71 Chris Perry 5 8 2 4 8 13 4 10 2 0 12 0 1 2 0 0 2 73 54 19
72 Nick Goings 2 2 0 0 0 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 3 9 3 3 28 10 19
73 Obafemi Ayanbadejo 3 2 1 3 2 0 0 0 3 8 1 0 4 0 1 2 3 32 13 18
74 Maurice Morris 1 1 0 0 0 16 0 0 4 0 2 0 3 2 2 4 4 40 23 17
75 Kyle Johnson 8 6 1 0 0 6 10 7 0 2 0 1 0 10 0 0 3 53 38 16
76 Lorenzo Neal 2 2 2 0 0 3 3 3 1 0 8 1 1 3 2 0 0 30 15 16
77 Justin Griffith 0 0 1 1 6 8 4 0 2 0 0 2 1 1 1 6 3 36 21 15
78 Dominic Rhodes 0 1 0 0 9 10 5 0 6 0 7 0 0 0 2 3 3 45 31 14
79 Brandon Jacobs 10 7 0 2 0 0 0 7 12 0 0 0 6 0 0 1 7 52 38 14
80 Mack Strong 0 1 2 1 4 4 1 0 1 1 0 3 0 1 2 2 3 25 13 12
81 William Henderson 2 3 0 4 1 0 1 1 4 2 1 0 0 4 3 0 1 26 15 11
82 Jarrett Payton 0 0 0 4 7 1 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 8 1 0 26 15 10
83 Lamar Gordon 0 10 2 5 1 0 1 3 1 6 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 32 22 10
84 Cedric Benson 1 5 0 0 1 0 1 4 8 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 28 19 9
85 Shaud Williams 3 2 1 2 0 3 4 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 0 1 28 20 8
86 Jerald Sowell 5 6 6 1 0 0 1 0 8 1 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 34 28 6
87 Jeremi Johnson 8 0 0 6 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 26 23 3
88 Priest Holmes 15 15 9 17 0 24 22 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 107 107 0
89 Deuce McAllister 19 9 14 15 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 63 63 0
90 Ahman Green 9 10 9 6 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 40 40 0

 

 

  

 

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