Ahem. Forgive my junior high sense of humor on this one, but FOXSports.com released their positional rankings for running backs. It’s called “Ranking the NFL’s RB Packages.” Sorry, I snickered at the decision to use the word “packages.” I think I would have gone with “backfields” instead.

Well, at least the Panthers, Vikings and Titans can walk around with their junk chests puffed out today. While, the Seahawks, Cardinals and Browns must be feeling a little small. Wocka Wocka Wocka. By the way, the Eagles are a little above average with the 13th ranked “package.” B-West and Shady can breathe a sigh of relief.

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Yet another “Best Of” list has been released by the World Wide Leader. ESPN the Mag calls this one “Ultimate Standings.” I guess that means everyone else’s standings are rendered meaningless because ESPN’s is the Ultimate, brother. My only real question regarding the list is how much influence the Ultimate Warrior had in ranking the franchises? I mean if you’re gonna do an ultimate of anything, the Warrior must be consulted. One Warrior Nation will not be ignored.

Whatever the case, the Eagles rank #44 among all 122 professional sports organizations. To no one’s surprise, the LA Clippers bring up the rear. Poor, poor Clippers. America’s Team chimes in at #76. Leatherface Jones cannot be pleased. Wonderboy Dan Snyder’s ‘Skins sit at #92. Seems a little high to me. Speaking of high: they slotted the Cardinals at #33. The Bidwells still own the team, right? Never underestimate the power of a Cinderella Super Bowl run.

What to make of this ultimate hoo-ha? Not much. Where an individual franchise ranks has no bearing on whether or not they will compete to win a championship in 2009. The Phillies were #62 in 2008. Now they are #24. The aforementioned Cardinals were #84 in 2008. They jumped over 50 spots in one year. Basically, if you’re a winning team you’ll receive a favorable ranking. If you stink, you won’t. Yawn.

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Whether or not Ellis Hobbs lasts in Philly beyond this season makes no difference to me. If he works out, great. If not, no biggie. If you cornered me with a sharp pointy stick, I’d say I think he’ll be here in 2010. Anyone who doesn’t believe he can be a quality starter never watched him in New England. He can play.

One thing is certain. Ellis has a way with words. He’s only been an Eagle for two months and he’s compiled a collection of memorable quotes. Well, he had another doozy on the Colin Cowherd radio show the other day.

Cowherd queried Hobbs regarding the biggest misconception about the Patriots. Ellis responded with this:

“That we’re all a bunch of jerks, starting with the head man, Bill,” said Hobbs. “Bill will be the first to tell you he comes off as a jerk, intentionally. Because, I think, what he tries to manifest throughout the players is that we’re here for football.”

I’ve always liked the word “manifest.” Ellis continued:

“There’s so much going on – the circus in the media and all that stuff, and the hoopla in the NFL these days – it’s hard to keep the focus on the game. I think that’s why they have everything so distinguished, set apart from everything, as far as the organization away from the players. Where there’s only access for the players on the lower level — the players and the coaches. And I think by him doing that, it kind of sets the tone, and let’s you know that we’re here to play football and win games.”

Reid has created a similar atmosphere, but Belichick’s rings distinguish him from every other coach in the league.

At any rate, Hobbs nailed how difficult it is for an NFL franchise to successfully compartmentalize the business side and the football side. I like Ellis. He’s honest. I have a feeling he’ll be a popular get for the Birds beat writers this summer and fall.

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Before I get on with my thoughts on Shady, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Football Outsiders’ list of 25 underrated players this decade. Philly’s own Brian Westbrook clocked in at number 15. I’d probably place him in the Top 10, but the FO guys use all kinds of fancy formulas and algorithms to determine each individual’s ranking. I just go with my gut.

Now to Mr. McCoy. It’s July, in case you hadn’t noticed. That means two things are at the forefront of my over-tasked mind. Training Camp and Fantasy Football. For me, these two things are closely related. While my real team is sweating two-a-days away, I’ll be prepping my made up teams.

I’ve been Fantasy balling since 1992. That year I led with my heart and drafted Randall Cunningham with my first pick. Coming off his torn ACL ‘91 campaign, Randall had a pedestrian season by his standards with 19 touchdown passes and 5 runs for scores. Not terrible, but not enough to bring home a Fantasy trophy. I finished 8-6 and narrowly missed the playoffs.

Since that time, I’ve been cautious when drafting Eagles. I’ve only owned McNabb and Westbrook once each over the years. Generally, I tend to avoid midnight green on draft day. I won’t rule them out altogether, but I’d rather place my fantasy fortunes in the hands of guys in different uniforms. That’s just the way I roll.

That being said, LeSean McCoy intrigues me this season. I think Westy will be ready to go week one, but coming off a pair of surgeries will likely hamper his effectiveness and longevity in ‘09. I won’t be drafting Brian, but I might consider swiping McCoy before the Westbrook owner can handcuff him. I envision Shady putting together a two or three game stretch around mid-season where he provides a glimpse of what he will eventually become. A Fantasy stud.

For that reason, I think Shady is worth consideration in late rounds. By no means do I believe he will be this season’s Chris “Coach’s Dream” Johnson, but I’m willing to hazard at guess at his possible production. Again, no fancy charts or graphs, just a gut feeling.

145 carries, 623 yards, 3 TDs

25 catches, 286, 1 TD

That averages out to about nine carries and less than two catches per game. That seems like a lot for a Reid rookie back; however, I think those stats will be skewed by those two or three games where Shady is the featured guy, be it due to injury or mop up duty.

Are my predictions out of whack? Let me know in the comments what you think McCoy’s numbers will look like.

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It’s been a tough year for celebs thus far in 2009 and it’s only half-way over. I’d like to believe things couldn’t get much worse than what we’ve seen in June, but strange has a way of following the rich and famous. At least this is the last day of the month. Maybe, just maybe, we can escape the day without another big name dropping.

I’m bored, so I’m going to mix things up here at ITI. It’s time to compare the recent spate of celebs who have kicked the bucket to some of our favorite NFL personalities. Which players or coaches or owners size up to the career paths of these deceased icons? Let’s take a look.

Join me after the jump (continue) for an episode of match game.

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According to NFL.com’s Steve Wyche, the Eagles have inked Shady McCoy to a four-year contract. No official word from the Birds, but McCoy’s agent Drew Rosenhaus tweeted the deal, so it must be true. In case you weren’t aware, Twitter is how everyone is getting their news these days.

With McCoy presumably in the fold, only first-rounder Jeremy Maclin remains unsigned. Both Shady and JMac are currently attending the NFL Rookie Symposium learning how not to end up like Michael Vick, Plaxico Burress and Donte Stallworth. Let’s hope they are paying close attention.

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Pete Prisco over at CBS.com published his list of the NFL’s Top 50 ballers. I consider lists like these an exercise in futility, but I don’t have much else to write on today, so I figured I’d offer my two cents on Prisco’s choices.

Donovan McNabb is the lone Eagles representative. No Westbrook. No Samuel. No Baskett. I can’t believe Hank didn’t make the cut. Anyway, I could care less about who didn’t earn a spot. I want to talk about Donny Mac’s #49 ranking.

If you assume I’m going to bash Prisco for not ranking him higher, you’d be incorrect. I think Don is fine right where he is. In fact, I’m surprised Pete included him at all. The easy pick would have been to peg Westy. Despite his injury woes, when healthy, Brian is one of the very best in the game. However, the uncertainty surrounding him at this stage is reason enough to leave him off what is essentially an arbitrary list. (To be completely honest, I find it inexcusable that he was omitted, but to unleash a tirade would divert me from my main point.)

Of the 50 players named, only five are 32 or older. Peyton Manning, Randy Moss, Kurt Warner, Tony Gonzalez and Donovan. We all know football belongs to the young, so these five are defying the odds by still being at the top of their games. McNabb’s inclusion on the list is all the more remarkable when you consider that he was dangerously close to being run out of Philly and the league last November.

Amidst all the drama and controversy and injuries and bad receivers and contract issues, he just keeps plugging along. He’s far from perfect. He’s made his share of mistakes, and he’ll make a lot more before he’s done. I just think we take for granted how consistently good he’s been since 2000. Five NFC title game appearances is nothing to spit at.

For Don to make a Top 50 list at age 32, after all he’s been through, shows you how much respect people who cover the NFL for a living still have for him. For all his faults, McNabb still provides the Eagles the best shot to win a Super Bowl. He knows it. The fans know it. The Birds’ brain trust knows it. And so do guys like Pete Prisco.

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PFT, via USA Today, is reporting former Eagles return specialist Brian Mitchell claims he was canned from his D.C. radio gig for inflammatory comments toward the Redskins.

The radio company, Red Zebra Radio (weird name), claims Mitchell’s removal was economic based. What else would they say? He was making $150 K, which ain’t chump change, so maybe it was for budgetary reasons. However, Red Pony Zebra is owned by one Daniel Snyder. Ahem.

What’s the world coming to when you can’t slam your favorite team? Thankfully, the Eagles would never resort… oh, wait… I forgot. There was this little nugget from March about the lowly Birds’ stadium worker who trashed the front office for letting Dawkins leave for greener pastures. He was promptly dismissed.

I have no idea if Mitchell’s accusations are correct. We’ll probably never know the truth, unless Snyder gets drunk one night and starts bragging about how he shut that loudmouth Mitchell up by firing his sorry ass.

The moral here: We’re free to say whatever we want, but it might come at a cost.

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There’s always lots going on throughout the FanSided.com Sports Network. Today isn’t any different. Time to take a spin around the blogs to see what’s the haps.

Pacman Jonesin’ has come up with 10 seriously screwed-up Michael Jackson moments. How he narrowed the list to just ten is amazing.

King James Gospel got a mention on ESPN’s Around the Horn on Thursday. Host Tony Reali botched the name of the site, but how nice is it to get a plug on the World Wide Leader? Pretty. Damn. Nice.

Pucks and Pitchforks is our brand new New Jersey Devils blog. Being a Flyer loyalist, I despise the Devils, but that’s no reason not to check out the site. They have a sweet logo with flames and stuff.

Yanks Go Yard covers a wide variety of topics in their latest post: The King of Pop, A-Rod’s ailing hip, and C-3PO, to name a few. It’s not every day R2-D2’s partner-in-mischief gets a shout out, so give it a look.

Rip City Project has an in-depth recap of the Trailblazers draft haul and debates the condition of DeJaun Blair’s knees. By the way, is there a more wicked cool name than Rip City Project? I think not.

Speaking of awesome monikers. Sir Charles in Charge takes the T-Wolves to task for drafting 27 point guards Thursday night. What were they thinking?

Back to football. Niner Noise discusses Mike Singletary’s creative motivation methods. I like the one about the Raiders.

Bear Goggles On dug up a video from the glorious ’80s starring Iron Mike Ditka. Words can’t explain. Just go watch it.

Finally, it’s never too early to talk Fantasy Football. Fantasy CPR is talkin’ #2 wide receivers.

From Yardbarker:

“Like most of the rest of the world I am devastated by the news of Michael Jackson’s death. Ironically, I am in Los Angeles for a few days between shooting a commercial and attending a teammate’s wedding this weekend. Those who have followed my career know that I am a huge fan of the King of Pop. After many of my touchdowns, I have moonwalked or mimicked some of his moves – before you get ready to criticize those moves on a post, know that even I understand I couldn’t hold a candle to Michael when it comes to dancing. My dances were a mere tribute to Michael’s unbelievable ability to entertain. Many times we are reminded at someone’s death that ‘there will never be another one like him/her.’ In this case, those words couldn’t be more true. My condolences go out to his children, his immediate family, and his extended family of millions around the world.”

McNabb knows how to keep it classy. I guess this means no more moonwalks when he rushes for a touchdown. Bummer. Unless, he does them to pay homage. Of course, some ass would probably attack him for disrespecting Michael’s memory. Ugh. People can be enraging.

By the way. The wedding is Hank and Kendra’s. What I wouldn’t give to be at that reception.