Fantasy Football Instant Reaction: Ezekiel Elliott gets TRO, likely to play all season

Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott was granted a temporary restraining order, which means that he can play while his case against the NFL's suspension works its way through the court. It appears like Fantasy owners will have Elliott for 16 games this year.

The Fantasy owners who gambled on Ezekiel Elliott playing all or most of the 2017 season are rejoicing Friday. It looks like he'll be on the field for 16 games.

That's because Elliott was granted a temporary restraining order, which means that he can play while his case against the NFL's suspension works its way through the court. We no longer have to worry about TRO and can now focus on PPR.

There is more to the case still to be decided, which you can read about here, but a final ruling on Elliott's six-game suspension is not expected to come until after the season is over. He was already scheduled to play Week 1 against the Giants, and he should be fine moving forward.

Prior to his suspension, Elliott was being drafted as the No. 3 overall player behind David Johnson and Le'Veon Bell. But once the NFL handed down a six-game suspension for alleged incidents of domestic violence his draft stock obviously started to fall.

He settled in as the No. 18 overall player based on Average Draft Position on CBS Sports, and he was the No. 9 running back off the board. Those owners who took a chance on Elliott clearly ended up with a tremendous player at what could be considered a bargain price.

As a rookie in 2016, Elliott was the No. 2 non-quarterback in standard and PPR leagues behind Johnson. He took advantage of running behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL and had 322 carries for 1,631 yards (5.1 yards per carry) and 15 touchdowns and 32 catches for 363 yards and one touchdown in 15 games (he sat out Week 17 to rest for the playoffs). 

Elliott scored double digits in Fantasy points in every game he played, including seven games with at least 20 points in standard formats. He is now free to build off that performance this season, and he's a contender to finish as the best skill player in Fantasy this year.

Now, owners in dynasty leagues or long-term keeper formats might want to sell high on Elliott since it's likely he will have to serve some sort of suspension by next season. It's comparable to what happened to New England quarterback Tom Brady when he finally served his four-game suspension from 2015 at the start of the 2016 season.

For this year, however, Elliott should remain a dominant Fantasy running back. And you no longer need to hold onto Darren McFadden unless you want to handcuff Elliott with the potential of an injury. McFadden's standalone value is now minimal with Elliott likely to play most of the year.