Week three was once again highlighted by injuries, including the Titans losing wide receiver Kenny Britt for the season and quarterback Michael Vick bruising his non-throwing hand, although it was suspected to be broken initially. That being said, here are the ups and downs of week four in the NFL:

Ups:

Dexter McCluster, RB/WR, Kansas City Chiefs

While I still believe Thomas Jones will be productive this season, he may lose carries to McCluster. McCluster’s body build won’t allow him to carry the load of a starting running back, but I think McCluster’s touches per game will keep rising each week.  With wideout Dwayne Bowe being the only somewhat consistent producer in this offense so far this season, Kansas City needs another playmaker to step up, especially with the absence of running back Jamaal Charles. McCluster showed us last year as a rookie that he can be an electric playmaker. 

McCluster is already averaging about five carries and seven catches a game thus far this season and his touches are rising week by week. The more touches he gets, the more of a chance he has to utilize his big play ability. Another bonus to this guy is that he is one of very few fantasy players who are eligible to start in either the running back or wide receiver positions on most sites (another is Danny Woodhead of New England). If you are thin at running back or even wide receiver, McCluster is a solid pickup.

Denarius Moore, WR, Oakland Raiders

Moore exploded in a week two loss to the Buffalo Bills when he caught five balls for 146 yards and a touchdown, plus a single run that went 25 yards. I almost wrote about him last week but I wanted to see what kind of game he responded with against a potent Jets defense in week three. He did not disappoint when he scored another touchdown, this one on a 23-yard end around for the score. He also caught four balls for 34 yards, being targeted several times. 

I think the rookie out of Tennessee will continue to be targeted by Jason Campbell and receive more targets in this offense after displaying some very big play ability. And the fact that he has been adding rushing yards adds to his value as well. Moore could be a good pickup if you are thin at receiver in a 10-team league.

Down:

Mike Tolbert, RB, San Diego Chargers

I’m going to keep it in the AFC West here with Tolbert of the Chargers. By natural position Tolbert is a fullback but has been driven to tailback during the course of mainly last season while Ryan Mathews was out for four games and missed time in other games. Mathews is finally coming into his own as the starter on this team and put up a 98-yard, two-touchdown performance along with 51 yards receiving against Kansas City last week. That’s while taking the bulk of the carries with 21 of them, leaving just four leftover for Tolbert. If you own Mathews then Tolbert is a great handcuff in case Mathews gets hurt again, otherwise I think its time to cut Tolbert loose into the wild of the free agent market.