3 NFL Storylines to Watch in Week 9

Zeke Clears Another Legal Hurdle

As of a late Thursday night, it appeared that Dallas Cowboys second-year running back Ezekiel Elliott was out of time, out of options, and would indeed have to start serving the six-game suspension that the NFL has been trying to keep enforced since it was handing the down decision back in August.

The Cowboys had planned to start Alfred Morris this week against the Kansas City Chiefs expecting Zeke's absence, and that shouldn't come as a surprise. Darren McFadden is 30 years old and has been a healthy scratch all season. While McFadden offers some versatility, third-year undrafted free agent Rod Smith (who played with Elliott for two years at Ohio State) is the other running back active on gameday because of contributions on special teams.

With Elliott back in play, Morris should still be owned in nearly all fantasy formats -- at least for now. That's because Elliott could be suspended again; as soon as Week 10 depending on the outcome from next week's court hearing.

As for Sunday, Elliott goes right back into every seasonal lineup. No question. For those playing daily fantasy, the entire slate has just been turned on its head now that Elliott back on the board. Over on FanDuel, Elliott ($8,900) is actually a value. He's priced below Todd Gurley and Kareem Hunt.

In addition to playing at home -- indoor, free of any weather concerns -- Elliott is facing a Chiefs run defense that ranks sixth from the bottom in numberFire's defensive metrics.

And here's one item from Sharp Football Stats that will really open your eyes to just how vulnerable the Chiefs are to the run game: no team is allowing a higher explosive run rate (runs that gain 15 yards or more) than the Chiefs. Their 18 percent frequency is a full 3 percentage points higher than the next team; which happens to be Dallas.