Dallas Cowboys - Fantasy News

Ezekiel Elliott Suspension Upheld Again, Sets Table For Rod Smith in Fantasy

by Adam Markowitz

10/31/17

NFL

Dallas Cowboys

Ezekiel Elliott

It really was only a matter of if and not when Ezekiel Elliott was going to be suspended. After watching Tom Brady sit for four games for his role in "Deflategate,” the guillotine was ultimately going to come down on Elliott.

With Elliott's suspension reinstated by U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla he will now sit six games, pending a reversal of the decision. It's possible that the NFLPA will head to the U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, but that court has already ruled against Brady and would likely do the same against Elliott.

Even if this case continues to the next appeals court, Elliott needs a reversal of the decision to be on the field this Sunday against Kansas City.

If Elliott does elect to start serving his suspension starting this week, he'll be missing games against the Chiefs, Falcons, Eagles, Chargers, Redskins and Giants. With a schedule like that, a team that is already sporting a 4-3 record is very likely to be out of the playoff picture before Elliott is eligible to return in Week 15 against Oakland.

Elliott had carried the ball at least 21 times in all but one of his games this year. He has touched the ball on 183 of Dallas' 452 plays, a whopping 40.4 percent of the time.

You might think that the biggest beneficiaries of Elliott’s absence would be veterans Darren McFadden and Alfred Morris. After all, McFadden finished fourth in the NFL in rushing just two seasons ago while Morris is a former 1,000-yard rusher three times over.

Morris has just one game with more than eight rushing attempts since he became a Cowboy, and he has always been rather useless as a pass-catcher out of the backfield.

McFadden has yet to be active for a game this season.

And that brings us to the curious case of the 25-year old Rod Smith. Is it possible that a man who has really only played steadily on special teams and is officially listed as a fullback could steal the show in the Dallas offense?

At 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, Smith is the biggest back of the bunch for Dallas, and he is the one most likely to be called upon in short yardage situations. In a 40-10 blowout two weeks ago against San Francisco, Smith lined up in the backfield in mop-up duty and rumbled for 61 yards on eight carries. The fact that he was toting the rock in that situation instead of Morris could be a telling sign.

It's always tough to play against Kansas City's defense, but Dober Games is likely to list Smith with a Projected Fantasy Points total of less than 5.0. If that's the case, all we would need out of Smith is 10 or so touches or just a single touchdown to earn a victory on our Week 9 Play Card.