Fantasy Flashback: Shaun Alexander (2005)

by Dan Lee (360FFB) on March 2, 2017

Fantasy Flashback is a weekly article that highlights some of the greatest individual seasons, from a fantasy football and NFL perspective.

Last week I highlighted LaDainian Tomlinson’s season with the San Diego Chargers.

Fantasy Flashback: LaDainian Tomlinson (2006)

This week I will highlight Shaun Alexander‘s 2005 season with the Seattle Seahawks.

Background

Shaun Alexander had his best NFL seasons from 2003-2005. All three years he was a Pro-Bowler.

He was named NFL Most Valuable Player and NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2005.

He also led the Seahawks to their first ever Super Bowl appearance (against the Steelers).

Stats

At age 28, Alexander recorded a career high in carries, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns.

Carries – 370
Rushing Yards – 1880
Rushing Touchdowns – 27
Yards per Game – 117.5

(All of the above stats led the league in 2005.)

Shaun Alexander would finish with a total of 363 fantasy points, almost 30 more points than the next highest scoring running back. He averaged 22.7 points per game.

Alexander had two weeks with 140+ rushing yards and 4 touchdowns (Weeks 3 & 6) and in both weeks, he finished with 38 total fantasy points. He also had 13+ points in 14 of the 16 games he played in.

Before the season started, experts ranked Alexander as the 2nd best fantasy running back behind, last week’s specimen, Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson. Alexander finished the season as the top fantasy running back while Tomlinson finished 6th.

After researching the seasons that Shaun Alexander and LaDainian Tomlinson had, it is very hard to see another running back rushing for 25+ touchdowns in a single season. The NFL today is much more of a pass-first type of football. In the early 2000’s when teams got in the redzone, they would punch in his with their running backs. Now teams line up in bunch formations, and drop back to pass.

That’s why Alexander’s (and Tomlinson’s) seasons were so special, from a fantasy perspective.

Impact

In 2005 Shaun Alexander helped the Seahawks finish with a 13-3 record, atop the NFC West. The Seahawks won three straight.

After his breakout year in 2005, Alexander did not have a 1,000 yard rushing season. In fact he only rushed for a total of 1,612 yards in the next two seasons.

But Shaun Alexander’s career in Seattle only lasted a total of 8 seasons. After the 2007 season the Seahawks decided to cut Alexander due to a lack of performance on the field. Alexander also had problems staying healthy that season.

He would, however, eclipse the 1,000 yard mark 5 times. He finished his career rushing for 9,429 yards and 100 touchdowns, both franchise records in Seattle.

Although his career in Seattle came to an abrupt end, his name still lives on. Some Seahawks fans call him the greatest Seahawk of all-time. Many admired Alexander for his ability to make people smile on and off the football field.