ICYMI: The Best Stories You Missed from NFL Week 9

He's Just Draughn That Way

The incredible depth of the San Francisco 49ers running back position has been a running (ahem) joke for years. There was Frank Gore, eternal Ironman, flatly refusing to diminish no matter how many times they drafted his replacement: Kendall Hunter, in the fourth round of 2011's draft; Marcus Lattimore, in the fourth round of 2013; Carlos Hyde, in the second round of 2014. One of the preseason's most interesting stories was that of Jarryd Hayne, the Australian rugby star who made the 49ers' initial roster at running back.

Yet in Week 9, all of them were unavailable—due to free agency, release, retirement due to injury, injury, and fumblitis, respectively—and Shaun Draughn was left carrying the load.

A 2011 undrafted free agent out of North Carolina, Draughn had stints in Washington, Kansas City, Baltimore, Chicago, San Diego, and Cleveland before landing in San Francisco. That's seven squads in five years—and throughout 35 active games he had just 75 carries for 264 yards.

In Week 9, he got the start. While the headlines went to promoted backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert and the disappointing starter he displaced, Draughn was the 49ers' leading rusher and receiver with 58 yards rushing on 16 attempts and 38 yards receiving on four catches.

Those aren't world-beating stats, of course, but they were good enough to beat the Atlanta Falcons.

Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Game

The hype was incredible: Adrian Peterson versus Todd Gurley, the king facing his usurper. After just four games as a starter, Gurley was already being touted as the best running back in football, his 566 yards on 88 carries giving him an astounding 6.42 yards-per-carry average.

Singlehandedly, it seemed, Gurley had transformed the Rams into contenders; they won three of those four games, their only loss coming at Lambeau Field. Draft evaluators scrambled to prove that they'd seen this coming, that they'd been higher on Gurley than anyone else, that gosh if it weren't for that pesky torn ACL they'd have ranked him far above even his actual No. 10 overall draft slot.

Peterson was relegated to an afterthought, as he has been nearly all season. After missing almost all of 2014 while embroiled in a child-abuse scandal, and then choosing not to play in the preseason, Peterson has struggled to find his old form.

This was supposed to be Gurley's coronation, the game in which he took the crown directly from Peterson's head and placed it on his own.

Instead, Linval Joseph took the crown and ate it.

The Vikings defensive lineman was an odd, underrated pickup in the 2014 free-agency period: an interior lineman pulling a five-year, big-money deal just a year after the Vikings drafted a similarly built player, Sharrif Floyd, in the first round.

Joseph, long a favorite of sites, such as Pro Football Focus, that go beyond raw stat output, is a diversely skilled player, a big-bodied run stopper with the athleticism to push the pocket on occasion. Against the Rams, the 6'4", 328-pound Joseph seemed to take stopping Gurley as a personal challenge; he more than met it.

Joseph finished the game with seven solo tackles, three assists, three tackles for loss, and one half-sack—but even those stats just don't reveal how effective he was against the Rams. The powerful Gurley, per Pro Football Reference, ran up the middle 10 times and was held to just 28 yards. A guy rushing for over six yards per carry on the season mustered just 2.8 against Joseph and company.

Thanks to his incredible effort, Peterson outrushed Gurley 125-89, and the Vikings squeaked by the Rams, 21-19. In recognition of that effort, Joseph finally got the kind of award rarely bestowed to big guys like him: he was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

Hangin' with Master Cooper

Amari Cooper is one of the best stories of the year, and rightfully so. A spectacular talent on college football's biggest stage, he's not only made a seamless transition to the NFL but revived the Oakland Raiders franchise with his precocious route-running and a speed that can't be taught.

Together with big-armed second-year quarterback Derek Carr, the explosive rookie has helped elevate the Raiders offense from the 31st-ranked scoring unit in 2014 to the seventh-best unit today.

Cooper hasn't been Carr's only target, or even his favorite. Fellow wideout Michael Crabtree has more targets, receptions, and touchdowns than Cooper.

Yes: despite the phrase "Crabtree is done" returning 11,500 Google hits, the one-time No. 10 overall pick is very much alive and well, and outproducing young Master Cooper in Oakland.

In fact, Crabtree's on pace for 94 catches, 1,182 yards, and 10 touchdowns—which would all be career highs, even when he was the focal point of a 49ers offense that went all the way to (and nearly through) the Super Bowl.

His talent has never been in question, but his effort, durability, and consistency have been constant worries since early on in his professional career. In 2014, he simply looked done—exhausted, broken down, beat up, and possibly worn out.

After a short move across the San Francisco Bay to Oakland, Crabtree's playing the most productive football of his life, and he's the overlooked catalyst to an explosive and improving young offense.