'Boldin's statistical history actually strongly leans toward his being a possession receiver. Over the past two years, he has seen only 66 vertical targets (a "vertical target" is defined as a ball thrown 11 or more yards downfield).

"That is a terribly low number, especially for a workhorse receiver. To put this into perspective, consider that out of the 47 receivers who have seen at least 150 total targets the past two years, only five have seen fewer than 66 vertical passes.

"Boldin's vertical pass percentage (the percentage of his overall targets that are "vertical") is even worse. Of that same group of 47, only Antwaan Randle El and Wes Welker had a lower vertical pass percentage than Boldin's 24.5 percent. His mark was even lower than the totals posted by noted possession specialists Bobby Wade (31.6 percent), T.J. Houshmandzadeh (32 percent) and Davone Bess (33 percent).

"If that wasn't enough to reconsider his status as a game-breaking wideout, it is also worth noting that only 10 of those 66 vertical targets were of the deep (20-29 yards) or bomb (30-plus yards) variety, and only three of those 10 were tallied in 2009."

Bottom-line: The Dolphins need a playmaking receiver. Boldin isn't it.