If injuries are inevitable in football, you wind up coming to terms with them and just hope they don’t happen to certain players.

This list is a means of identifying which players Duke could ill afford to lose.

The label of “most-important” with “best” can overlap and in some of these cases, it will. But we’re going beyond the simplicity of “best” and talking about which ones suffering an injury would be most devastating to the Blue Devils.

One quick note: Riley Leonard isn’t eligible for this list. Quarterback is the most-important position on the field. It’s too obvious a selection to tab the QB as the most-important player.

Now, onto the list of the top 5 most-important players for Duke:

Position: Nickel/safety.

Size: 5-10, 180.

Eligibility: Two seasons remaining.

Career stats: 24 games | 72 tackles, 7½ TFLs, 5½ sacks, 2 interceptions, 9 passes defended, 2 fumbles forced, 2 fumbles recovered.

Depth behind him: Duke lists three nickels on the roster — shoutout for position-specific designations — and Cameron Bergeron would be next up if you stick to that listing.

As laid out in this earlier story during fall camp, Chandler Rivers is Duke’s No. 2 option at nickel. The second-year cornerback has been taking nickel snaps occasionally since last season and with Johnson alternating between nickel and safety, Duke will use Rivers at nickel when Johnson is either at safety or on the sidelines.

What makes him important: It’s all about versatility.

Johnson is going to start at one of two positions in Duke’s secondary; either at nickel or safety. While we don’t know which spot he’ll line up in whenever Duke’s defense takes the field against Clemson, we know he’s bound to spend time at both positions.

And we know that he’s the Blue Devils’ most-versatile defensive back, being able to play the most-demanding non-QB position in football, while also spending time at safety.

“We were having an argument about this, a little debate about this, as a team,” Johnson said of the difficulty of playing nickel. “I like to say that nickel is one of the positions where mentally and physically, you get asked to do a lot.”

Position: Left tackle.

Size: 6-5, 314.

Eligibility: Two seasons remaining.

Career stats: 31 games, 2,160 snaps | has allowed 8 sacks and 39 total QB pressures (per Pro Football Focus).

Depth behind him: There’s a reason Barton was on the field for 896 of Duke’s 918 offensive snaps last season (PFF).

There simply isn’t a readymade replacement on Duke’s roster if Barton goes down. The Blue Devils are pleased with transfer Jake Hornibrook (Stanford) at the other tackle position, and redshirt freshman Brian Parker II has shown some promise.

What makes him important: That should be obvious at this point.

The Brentwood, Tenn., native is one of the top offensive linemen not only in the ACC, but in the country. He was the only offensive tackle among Power 5 schools to grade out above 85.0 in pass blocking and run blocking last season, per PFF, last season.

Barton is one of the best left tackles in college football and Duke’s offensive line would lose a punch if he misses significant time.

He’s also in line to become the Blue Devils’ first offensive lineman drafted by the NFL since Laken Tomlinson in 2015.

Position: Defensive tackle.

Size: 6-3, 305.

Eligibility: One season remaining.

Career stats: 39 games | 86 tackles, 21½ TFLs, 11 sacks, 7 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 11 QB pressures, 7 PBUs.

Depth behind him: Duke has one of the best defensive tackle duos in the ACC with Ja’Mion Franklin and Carter, and fall camp has seen senior Aeneas Peebles elevate his game to get into a rotation with them.

Otherwise, the interior of Duke’s defensive line is a mix of young and inexperienced players. Aaron Hall moved inside in the spring after playing sparingly at defensive end for the last two years. Of the trio of freshmen, David Anderson has shown the most promise; Tony Boggs (6-4, 271) is a little undersized and Terry Simmons Jr. has a lower body injury.

What makes him important: The production is obvious.

Carter is the best pass-rusher on the team. His 52 QB pressures last season were 15 more than Duke’s second-most (R.J. Oben), and his 24 run stops were 10 more than any other defensive lineman for Duke (both per PFF).

It’s not *just* the production, though.

Carter is the first three-time captain in program history. He’s been a leader through the coaching change, embraced by two different staffs, and is the heartbeat of Duke’s defense.

He’s also been versatile, which can’t be overstated when talking about interior defensive linemen. Carter has played a combined 1,261 snaps in the last two seasons; the only returning defensive player with more snaps in that time is safety Jaylen Stinson (1,286).

Position: Offensive lineman.

Size: 6-3, 320.

Eligibility: One season remaining.

Career stats: 46 games, 3,051 snaps | has allowed 11 sacks and 61 total QB pressures (PFF).

Depth behind him: It’s hard to quantify depth behind Monk because … well, we’ll get to that.

The fifth-year senior is penciled in as a starter on Duke’s offensive line and the only thing keeping that from being in ink is because we’re not sure what position it’ll be — center or guard.

The plan going into the season was for Monk to play center and Justin Pickett to take over at the guard position, but Pickett has been rehabbing a summer leg injury. That’s forced Monk to play guard, while grad transfer Scott Elliott (Harvard) has played center.

What makes him important: It’s a one-word answer again — versatility.

Monk spent last spring and the bulk of fall camp playing center, and then last season played 203 snaps at center and 441 at right guard (PFF).

It seems like for at least as long as Pickett is out, this will be how Monk’s season goes again. Duke’s best offensive line combination involves Monk in some capacity, and his versatility in playing multiple positions makes him valuable.

The Clayton native earned some praise for his athleticism this month, landing on Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List,” which identifies the 101 most-athletic players across college football (Monk was 87th).

Reserved and under spoken, Monk doesn’t see himself in that light.

“We have people I think that are more freaky than me,” Monk said. “Graham Barton is ridiculous. So I feel like he should definitely be on the list way higher than me.”

Position: Receiver.

Size: 5-11, 191.

Eligibility: One season remaining.

Career stats: 48 games | 203 catches, 2,360 yards, 13 touchdowns.

Depth behind him: Duke has some depth at receiver but Eli Pancol’s injury hurts, and the Blue Devils might find themselves leaning on a few young and inexperienced receivers.

Calhoun, Jordan Moore and Sahmir Hagans form a formidable starting group. Jontavis Robertson and Malik Bowen-Sims are older players who need to show consistency; Mehki Wall and Sean Brown are younger, undersized receivers who could provide a boost.

What makes him important: For as much depth as Duke boasts on the perimeter, Calhoun is still the go-to option.

He’s been first or second on the team for receptions and yards in all four seasons he’s been at Duke. He had at least 90 yards in five games last season; no other Blue Devil had more than one game with at least 90 receiving yards.