Cromartie now becomes one of the most-important players in the league. (US Presswire)

With the news this week that Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis has been lost for the season with a torn ACL, that got us thinking about which players in the league who, if injured, would be (almost) impossible to replace.

Revis probably is the No. 1 guy on that list, and his absence certainly reduces New York’s chances for making the postseason. But there are a handful of other players whose absences would have nearly the same impact on their teams. Without them, all hope wouldn’t necessarily be lost, but any kind of optimism would take a hurtful blow to the gut.

With that, here are the Top Ten (with a twist) players who can’t afford to be lost.

10. Darrelle Revis: Normally, the Jets cornerback would be No. 1 on this list, but since he’s already gone and since he still needs to be mentioned, he’s here at No. 10. The reason Revis is so important is because the Jets defense could play completely differently with him in the game. As long as he’s healthy, the team could count on him to take one-half of the field without much, if any, help from a safety over the top. With Kyle Wilson in the game instead of Revis, though, that scheme is not possible, meaning the Jets defense has to change drastically.

9. Santonio Holmes: Look, the Jets season might be sunk anyway, with the offense playing haphazardly, with the Tim Tebow distraction still permeating the atmosphere and with a defense that ranks in the bottom half of the league. But, even with the thought that Holmes is a less-than-stellar teammate, the Jets can’t afford to lose the only legitimate veteran receiver on the team. If he’s lost to injury or, more likely, to insolence, I don’t see how the team finishes .500.

8. Maurice Jones-Drew: Is there any running back in the league who couldn’t be replaced? Probably not. If Jones-Drew had to miss multiple games with an injury, it’s likely the Jaguars could sign some undrafted free agent off the street and that guy would run for 250 combined yards in two games. But in reality, Jones-Drew’s backup, Rashad Jennings, hasn’t been healthy, and really, Jones-Drew’s running and pass-catching abilities make him the most important player in Jacksonville’s offense. Without him, the Jaguars could slip to, I don’t know, 4-12.

7. Eli Manning: Let’s see, Manning has won two Super Bowls with two late-game touchdown drives, and he’s become a top-five quarterback. His backup is David Carr. That’s all you need to know.

6. NaVorro Bowman/Patrick Willis: Yes, I’m cheating by having two linebackers from the same team in one spot on the list, but their importance together (and individually) can’t be overstated. Willis has long been considered one of the top inside linebackers in the league, but Bowman actually is the one who leads the league in tackles through the first three weeks. Yes, the other two starting outside linebackers, Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks, are more than solid -- and Smith could be really good -- but Bowman and Willis are two of the reasons that the 49ers defense is so special.

5. Sean Payton: Without Payton running the show in New Orleans, the Saints are 0-3 and show no signs that they’re a legitimate playoff contender (I mean, good god, a loss to the Chiefs last week?!?). It’s hard to blame Aaron Kromer completely, the interim coach to interim coach Joe Vitt, because Payton’s year-long suspension is the fault of Payton. But without Payton around, the offense isn’t clicking. Somehow not even a giant picture of him at their practice facility can make things right.

4. Jon Condo: So, what happens when the Raiders long snapper is lost from the game because of a concussion? Well … this.

Poor Travis Goethel.

3. Clay Matthews: Unlike the 49ers, who still would have a strong linebacker corps if they lost Bowman or Willis, the Packers defense would struggle without Matthews -- who, once again, has looked like the best linebacker in the league this year. A.J. Hawk has been a disappointment for much of his career, and it’s too soon to see how effective 2012 first-round pick D.J. Smith can be without Matthews around. Matthews is one of the more uniquely-difficult players to contain in the NFL. The Packers defense would look much different without him.

2. Aaron Rodgers: There are plenty of starting quarterbacks who are somewhat-replaceable by their backups (the Patriots still went 11-5 without Tom Brady in 2008, and they had Matt Cassel (!) as the starter; the Texans made the playoffs last year without Matt Schaub and with a rookie fifth-round pick as starter). Even though Drew Brees is not in that category, I believe Saints backup Chase Daniel could, rather easily, duplicate Brees’ 0-3 record this season. But Rodgers is uniquely qualified to run the Packers offense, and last year, he gave perhaps the best season-long quarterbacking performance of all time. Can you imagine how bad the Packers could be without Rodgers?

1. Antonio Cromartie: Without Revis, Cromartie becomes the single-most important player on the Jets defense. Clearly, Cromartie isn’t as good as Revis, but he’s still a solid cornerback on a team that will start the overmatched Wilson in place of Revis. If Cromartie somehow gets hurt, I have no idea what the Jets will do. Probably forfeit the rest of their games and go home for the rest of the season.

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