Up until week 5, Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles had me in first place in my fantasy league and life was good.

Then, he blew out his knee for another season-ending injury.

Steelers star-running back Le'Veon Bell's season ended last week against the Cincinnati Bengals with a similar injury, and Bears running back Matt Forte will miss at least a few weeks with a less-severe knee injury (also on my team).

On Monday, news came out that Patriots running back and fantasy darling Dion Lewis would be out for the year with, you guessed it, a torn left ACL.

The list of destroyed fantasy seasons doesn't end there.

Keenan Allen's kidneys exploded, Ben Roethlisberger's legs have issues with football players landing on them, and Steve Smith, Sr. tore his Achilles.

But while these top performers are out, who do you replace them with?

Sometimes it's as easy as picking up their backups. When Jamaal Charles went down, the Chiefs gave backup Charcandrick West a shot and he's had solid games when he gets 20 or more carries.

In Monday night's game, Bears backup running back Jeremy Langford had a very Forte-esque performance with 70 rushing yards and 70 receiving yards in the comeback win for Chicago.

The best display of the next-man-up performers has been Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams, who was the top fantasy player overall in week 9 after star Le'Veon Bell went out for the season. Williams was fantastic replacing Bell earlier this season, and I expect that production to continue this season.

While Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount won't replace Lewis' threat in the receiving game, he's shown he can rack up the yards when you give him enough whacks at it. James White can shake a defender or two out of their shoes, so he could become the next third-down back if Brandon Bolden doesn't get the nod.

With the Pats, however, you never know. They might abandon the running game all together and let Tom demolish the league on his own.

Sometimes, you might want to look elsewhere.

On the other side of Monday's game, Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers struggled against a bad Bears defense without him main-man, Keenan Allen. Everyone, including me, expected Stevie Johnson or Malcom Floyd to pick up the slack.

Floyd left the game with a serious injury and Johnson was pretty ineffective, even with 7 receptions.

Replacing your quarterback isn't as difficult, unless you're playing in a league with more than 10 or 12 players. Underrated and overlooked guys like the Jaguars' Blake Bortles and the Raiders' Derek Carr are having solid years and could become the top QB choices once Tom Brady retires in 3 to 20 years.

So, if your #1 draft choice this year is out for the year with a torn ACL, and there's a lot of you out there, you are not alone.

You'll have to try different backs and receivers off the waiver wire for a while, but just blame your bad season on the injury bug.

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