Fantasy Football Instant Reaction: Ezekiel Elliott cleared to play in Week 9, but it's not all good news
Ezekiel Elliott will be allowed to play this Sunday, but this decision raises even more concerns for Fantasy players down the road.
We can't go more than a few days without some new development in the Ezekiel Elliott legal saga, and the latest turn came early Friday morning. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted Elliott a brief administrative stay for his suspension Friday, allowing him to play until his injunction request is heard.
The means Elliott will be able to play in Week 9 against the Chiefs, so go get him in your lineup. It also means his chances of playing the rest of the season are still alive. As part of the decision Friday, Elliott was also granted an expedited hearing for his request for an injunction against the appeal, which is likely to happen next week in front of a three-judge panel.
What does this mean? Well, all that FAAB money you spent on Alfred Morris and Darren McFadden will go to waste for at least one week. Elliott is playing Sunday, and he's got a pretty good matchup against a Chiefs defense that has struggled against the run this season. He is a must-start player for the matchup, and you don't need me to tell you that.
However, don't get too excited if you've got Elliott on your roster. This might just be delaying the inevitable, and that could lead to something like a worst-case scenario for Elliott this season. If his injunction request is denied next week, his suspension will go into effect, keeping him off the field from Week 10 through Week 15. That's smack dab in the middle of the vast majority of Fantasy playoffs; it's typically the semifinal week for most leagues.
If Elliott loses in front of that three-judge panel next week, his suspension begins immediately, and you've lost your star player for the most important part of the season. In that case, Morris and McFadden would still have plenty of utility, so by no means should you drop either. Elliott's future this season is still very much in doubt, and given the precedent of the Tom Brady Deflategate case in the second circuit, Ellliott winning an appeal is unlikely. At this point, it still seems more likely than not that Elliott will end up serving his suspension out this season.
He doesn't have to win his appeal next week, of course; he just has to prove that he would suffer irreparable harm if not allowed to play while his appeal is heard. That argument worked in the lower courts, but was rejected by Judge Katherine Polk Fialla of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, who ruled his suspension was back in effect earlier this week.
This saga is not done, but it's getting close. The final twist may come next week. For now, Elliott got good news Friday, while those of you who have him on your Fantasy team still must deal with the grey cloud inside of that silver lining. You're still not in the clear yet. Not even close.
















