Hakeem Nicks Injury: Plan on Benching WR for Fantasy Football Week 2

New York Giants wide receiver and sure-thing fantasy football points machine Hakeem Nicks is suffering from a knee injury, and it's likely to sideline him for their Week 2 contest against the St. Louis Rams on Monday night.

This means that if he's on your fantasy football roster, you are likely to lose one of your most important players to injury for at least one week.

Nicks, who received x-rays and an MRI on the injured knee, is being held out of practice despite both tests coming back negative. The Giants believe he has suffered a bone bruise, but the knee continues to swell, making the team proceed cautiously with the star wideout.

This is yet another blow to a Giants team that has suffered significantly more losses to injury at this early point in the season than any other NFL team.

If Nicks misses Monday night's home opener, it will also have fantasy—and reality—implications for quarterback Eli Manning and fellow wide receiver Mario Manningham.

Manningham is a talented No. 2 to Nicks, and he will have to pull significantly more weight against the Rams if the Giants hope to continue producing in the air. Regardless, without Nicks on the field, Manning's completion percentage and yardage numbers are likely to suffer.

The fantasy implications of Nicks being out therefore reverberate among many players, a testament to how valuable he is to GMs the year after his 2010 breakout season.

It would behoove Nicks' owners to have a solid backup plan in place, as Nicks is likely out for Week 2. Whether you do so via your bench, trades or the waiver wire isn't important; what is important is to find a worthwhile stopgap starter while your star receiver recovers.

While it's unlikely that a second-tier fantasy receiver will be able to come close to Nicks' numbers while he sits out, at least know that the dip you may experience this week won't likely last beyond one game.