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The Giants announced that Hakeem Nicks fractured the fifth metatarsal of his right foot Thursday morning during the team’s second OTA workout. Nicks suffered the injury early in practice as he was running a route during individual drills.

Nicks will undergo surgery tomorrow to have a screw inserted into the broken bone. The procedure will be performed by noted foot and ankle specialist Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, N.C. The expected recovery time for Nicks is approximately 12 weeks.

The Giants report to training camp at the University at Albany on July 26.

The news -- especially the timing -- is not good.

Although a 12-week timetable would have him back in advance of the Sept. 5 regular-season opener, there are no guarantees.

Even if he avoids setbacks and makes good on the announced timetable, he'll have missed almost all of training camp. The best-case scenario, from a Fantasy perspective, would have his drafty day price plummet making him a superior value.

Meanwhile, Victor Cruz moves even further up the rankings and rookie Rueben Randle becomes more interesting.

Selected at No. 63 overall, the Giants liked Randle so much, Marc Ross, their director of college scouting, said they discussed picking him with the 32nd overall pick. Ross said they had given Randle a first-round grade.

Randle, a talented LSU receiver who was projected by many draft experts to be picked in the first round, entered the draft after his junior season, and did not have prolific numbers thanks in large part to subpar quarterback play. In his three years at LSU, he played in 40 games (25 starts) and caught 97 passes for 1,634 yards (16.9-yard average) and 13 touchdowns.

Still, Ross called Randle "an NFL-ready receiver. ..."

And Randle appeared to bear that assessment out during the team's initial rookie mini-camp earlier this month.

While head coach Tom Coughlin was reluctant to answer a question about which players impressed on the first day of those sessions, he did mention one by name: “I was very impressed by Randle out on the field this morning,” the coach said.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride was also impressed with the 6-2, 210-pound youngster.

“What you see on film, it looks like we have a receiver that is capable of making some deep catches, running by some people,” Gilbride said. “As you guys have seen us unfold with those other two guys (Nicks and Cruz), they’re intermediate (threats) and certainly Hakeem can go deep. But you need that third component so that when people start skewing over and clamping down on Cruz and Nicks, you’ve got a guy who, if he gets 1-on-1, has the ability to get over the top and hurt people like [former Giants Mario] Manningham did.”

Now it looks like we'll all get a chance to see what Randle can do.

For the record, returning receivers Jerrel Jernigan, Ramses Barden and Domenik Hixon will also be in the mix. But if Randle is able to live up to early expectations, he could come out of the chute much harder than expected.

Meanwhile, keep an eye on the News & Views section of the site for pertinent updates and follow ups.