Multiple news outlets reported today that both Hakeem Nicks and Ahmad Bradshaw will not play for the New York Giants when they travel to Carolina for Thursday Night Football against the Panthers.

This is a big blow to the Giants’ offense, but the fantasy ramifications are much more widespread. Hit the waiver wires, find other RB and WR options to step into the starting lineup to make an impact and move forward. Nicks, who went for 199 yards on 10 receptions against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, was going to be relied upon by many fantasy owners to be a WR1 option. Well, that is not going to happen. Meanwhile, Bradshaw is probably nothing more than a RB2 option at this point, but is still valuable in standard leagues.

Lets take a quick look at what this means.

Hakeem Nicks

One’ could easily make the statement that Victor Cruz will be an undeniable fantasy stud come tomorrow night. His targets promise to go up as a result of Nicks missing the game. That being said, can you expect a repeat performance of his 179 yard output from Sunday? I would take even odds on that one at this point.

Although their secondary has looked relatively good in the first two games, Carolina is missing the depth and talent along this unit to be able to shut Cruz down. I would have recommended Cruz being a WR1 option this week to begin with, so nothing changes here.

Domenik Hixon has also been ruled out of Thursday’s game. This will give rookie wide receiver Rueben Randle an opportunity to shine for the defending champs. The LSU product has returned two punts in the Giants first two games, but has yet to accumulate a single reception. A case could be made for picking him up from the waiver wire and implementing him in your lineup. However, I would probably go in another direction if you already have depth at the wide receiver position on your fantasy roster.

The only thing that really changes here is the fact that individuals who own Nicks will not be able to rely on his production this week. It will have a trickle-down effect, but don’t jump the gun. Just move each receiver already on your roster up one tier. If you have Cruz, go ahead and feel comfortable starting him...As if you weren’t in the first place.

Ahmad Bradshaw

Probably a bigger impact than Nicks simply because Bradshaw has been relied on to be a RB2 option in most standard leagues. This means that fantasy owners will have to scramble to find someone to make the impact that they expected from Bradshaw in the first place.

Looking specifically at the Giants, it makes sense to start Andre Brown, who put up 71 yards on 13 rushes against Tampa Bay on Sunday. You can expect Brown to get the start over rookie first-round pick David Wilson, who isn’t on solid footing with Tom Coughlin and Co. after fumbling in the season opener. The Virginia Tech product has just 10 yards on five attempts through two games. Don’t even look at Wilson as an option here.