Fantasy Football Week 6: Cruz Will Surpass Manningham as G-Men No. 2

The emergence of Victor Cruz has been the biggest storyline in the early weeks of the 2011 season for the New York Giants.

Obviously Hakeem Nicks is still Eli Manning's number one option, but there's definitely a discrepancy when it comes to the number two wideout on the depth chart.

While Giants coaches are insisting Mario Manningham is still the number two receiver, Victor Cruz has surfaced in the eyes of many as Nicks' counterpart. 

So far this season, Cruz has erupted for 386 yards and three touchdowns on 19 receptions, averaging 77.2 yards per game, all on 29 targets.

Manningham, on the other hand, has been pretty dreadful.  Although he missed some time with a concussion, he's been targeted 28 times, but has just 171 yards and zero TDs on 13 receptions, averaging out to a paltry 42.8 yards per game.

Manningham hasn't been nearly as solid as he was last year, when he compiled sufficient enough stats to compliment Nicks on the other side of the field (60 rec, 944 yards and nine TDs).

In a game on Oct. 2 against Arizona, Manningham was "sat" in favor of Cruz due to miscommunication between him and Manning.

Coming off of a benching and what Giants Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride called "his best game by far," in which he had just one reception for 10 yards on five targets, Manningham had five catches for 56 yards on nine targets against Seattle in week 5.

Cruz, on the other hand, hauled in eight catches for 161 yards and a touchdown that may go down as the best catch of the 2011 season.  He's averaging 20.3 yards per reception; compare that to Nicks, who is averaging 14.7, and Manningham, who is at 13.2 yards per reception.

Both Nicks and Cruz have eclipsed 100 receiving yards in a game twice this season, while Manningham has yet to exceed 60 yards in a game.

With defenses keying in on Nicks, Cruz will have many opportunities to showcase his talent and surpass Manningham as the number two wideout for the G-Men.

(All Stats compiled from ESPN)