We’ve all been there. You’re watching the football game on Sunday night. You have your first-round draft pick in fantasy making great plays and racking up points for your team. Life is good, even great, and then tragedy strikes: they take a hard hit and are out the rest of the game. You hope they will be back next week, but as the days keep rolling by, you realize their injury is more serious than you first thought. What do you do?

We have already seen some great players get injured this Fall: Nick Chubb’s season may be over after a horrifying knee injury, Cooper Kupp was out for the first 4 games, and Austin Ekeler has been injured since week 1 and is questionable for week 6. These are players who normally put up impressive performances, and those of us who chose to draft them are forced to act quickly.

Players who are usually put on the back burner can shine in cases like these. One name that comes to mind this season is Puka Nacua, a wide receiver who was drafted in the 5th round by the Los Angeles Rams and has averaged 23.9 fantasy points as of week 4. If you can, try to pick up these kinds of players when your star players get injured because it likely means that they are about to get targeted a lot more than usual. Also, if your injured player will only be out for a couple of weeks, consider trading them for someone who may not be as high caliber. It heavily depends on the situation, but oftentimes, the gains you will have in the short term can boost your team’s record and help guarantee a spot in the playoffs, even if the other team will eventually get the “better” player.

Football is a contact-heavy sport, and it is almost inevitable that players will get hurt. I hope that with these tips, you will be able to make smart choices and improve your record on your fantasy football team. Good luck!