Now I'm going to say right off that it is unfair for anyone to think that one man can become a Hall of Fame player overnight. But my gut feeling is that the New England Patriots will need a wide receiver who can make an impact catching the football. I'm not certain that it is going to be Chad Ochocinco. Mike Reiss has said that he has had trouble separating for defensive backs. And he is still learning the system. Some fans I have spoken to, and that have watched Chad say that he chooses the wrong time to drop the ball. I won't rule Chad out. But I do have my concerns. More after the jump.

  I looked at the list of top ten Patriot receivers by Bleacher Report. And the list isn't promising. Harold Jackson and Irving Fryar have had more productive seasons in other places. Terry Glenn did that somewhat. While Wes Welker, Deion Branch and Troy Brown are for me the key figures on this list. Randy Moss was of course no 1. Jim Colclough, Gino Cappalletti, and Stanley Morgan also round out the list. But the reason I'm bringing this up at all is because the Patriots have had trouble through out their history of finding quality wide outs. Some teams have had this issue. I'm sure a lot of fans were happy that the team let Brandon Tate go. I wanted to keep him. I thought he had a lot of potential. But that is neither here nor there now.

 Its not that teams aren't afraid of our wide receivers. Our guys just need to pull in the ball. I know the Patriots have what they have. And are happy to have the guys they have. But having a guy who can come down with the ball in big situations is important. Really it could be the tight ends as far as I'm concerned. It is a team game. That man used to be Deion Branch. I don't know that it isn't anymore. But I feel like a guy like Taylor can step right in and help out. I'd like to think that he could have maybe 5 touchdowns this season. I still think he could be much better than Chad. But only time will tell.

 The other man that no one is talking about is Matthew Slater. He did well during the preseason. And really he is the same kind of receiver that I felt Tate would have been. I think he can catch the slants, quick screens, and crossing routes. But can he come up with the ball? Right now no one knows. But with age and expiring contracts, the Patriots will need capable pass catchers who can make a difference. My gut tells me that one or both of these two young players will have to make a big difference at some point and time this season.