A lot of rookies entered the USFL in 2005 so let's take a look at some of the top rookie performers from the first half. I'm checking player awards section, conference by conference, going from top to bottom. Don't read anything into the order I put them in.

Randy Savage, WR Houston Ooh yeah, step into a Slim Jim. There is a detailed write up on Savage here https://usflwfl.myfootballnow.com/forums/3/1095?page=4#16960. He has 367 rushing yards, 6 TDs, to go with 44 catches, 547 yards. He does have 7 drops and 2 fumbles. On pace for over 1,800 combined yards.

Donald Fleming, WR Honolulu The rookie WR leads the Hawaiians in receptions (30) yards (560) and TDs (7) and is a big reason Honolulu is 7-1, tied for the best record in the American Conference. Fleming also has just 1 drop on the season.

Gary Kahn, WR Oklahoma Kahn has more receptions (35) and yards (575) than Fleming but lacks the TDs (4) and has dropped 9 passes. Kahn is still having a fine rookie season and a strong second half could push him closer to Fleming/Savage in the ROY race.

Mohammed Maher, C Southern California OL are often hard to judge but of the 5 for this conference, Maher stood out as he's started from Day 1. He has 345 sackless pass blocks and allowed 10 tackles in 213 run blocks.

Dale Nichols, DT Denver Has 14 tackles and 4 sacks, pretty good numbers for any DT in 8 games, let alone a rookie.

Eliseo Roman, DT Memphis Only has 7 tackles but also 3 sacks and 4 hurries, good numbers for an interior lineman.

Anthony Allan, WLB Denver 41 tackles, 2 sacks and 7 knockdowns, best rookie LB in the conference so far based on stats

The rookie DBs in this conference are hard to separate without digging deeper and with 8 games to go, now is not the time. Houston has 2 of the 4, with Greg "The Hammer" Valentine" joining Gorilla Monsoon combining for 90 tackles and Valentine has 10 knockdowns. SS Jamal Parsons of Detroit has 40 tackles, 5 knockdowns and a 45% catch allowed. San Antonio rookie SS Brian Webb has 34 tackles and 4 knockdowns.

Last, and probably least because he's a punter but P James Snow of Oakland is top 10 in the league in gross average, net average and inside 20 kicks.

National Conference coming next

The National Conference only lists 3 rookie skill players and none of the 3 have stats comparable to the top 3 in the other conference. The 3 are all WRs, Lynn McLaurin, Birmingham; Donald Wade, Jacksonville; and Eugene Williams, Pittsburgh. Williams has 253 run blocks already, perhaps a product of WR at TE?

Not sure how I feel about run block stats for WR, first instinct is to ignore it as WR is a counting stat position, meaning I feel it's all about catches, yards, and TDs (rush yards too, of course).

Must not be too many rookie OL playing, as 2 of the 5 are on my team and they don't start. In fact, Dwight Schrute doesn't even play much at all but there he is. Barney Stinson is likely a future All Pro but for now he's a top backup for me.

C Neil Brown, Tampa Bay is the leader in the rookie OL clubhouse for the National Conference. Brown has 380 sackless pass blocks and allowed just 5 tackles in 285 run blocks.

RDE Michael Peters, Pittsburgh has 11 sacks at the halfway point, good for 6th in the league.

Not much separation in the LB or DBs here as they all have stuffed the stat sheet. There were 8 listed at those positions with the New York Stars having placed 3: MLB Paul Davis, CB Hugh Snell, and CB Peter O'Reilly. Georgia has a pair of rookie LBs on the list, my childhood friend Mark Armstrong and Jesse Champion. Orlando placed 1 LB (Leonard Chastain) and 1 DB (Gregory Chaney). CB Allen Garth of Jacksonville rounds out the list.

My rookie WR Randy Savage is having a solid rookie season but he has really helped my team by taking some of the load off Gus "Highest" Gas in my offense.

That decreased load has directly resulted in Gas having 5 KO return TDs this season through 9 games, just 1 off the All-time single season record!