Ezekiel Elliott -- Pleads Not Guilty ... In Ohio Car Crash Incident

Hours after he was drafted by the Cowboys, Ezekiel Elliott had a serious off-the-field issue to address in Ohio ... sending his lawyer to plead NOT GUILTY in his court case stemming from a 2015 car crash.

As we previously reported, Elliott says he hydroplaned and lost control of his car around 1:30 PM on Dec. 27th ... slamming into another vehicle which was carrying 2 people. One of the passengers suffered a minor injury.

When cops arrived to the scene, officials say they discovered Elliott had been driving on a suspended license.

He was ultimately cited for driving under suspension, driving without a license and failure to control his vehicle.

Elliott was arraigned Friday morning -- but did not appear in court. He sent a lawyer in his place to plead not guilty to all of the charges.