With all the talk recently about how many more good  years Brian Westbrook has left, I thought I'd take a closer look at running backs and age.

I put together a list of the top-five rushers in each of the past five seasons. Now I understand there's more to playing the position than rushing yards -- like blocking, catching the ball out of the backfield, etc. But I thought looking at their rushing yards would be the easiest way to figure out around what age range the league's elite backs tend to fall in.

Here's what I found:

Since 2003, there have been 16 different running backs who have finished in the top-five in rushing for a single season: LaDainian Tomlinson, Adrian Peterson, Brian Westbrook, Willie Parker, Jamal Lewis, Clinton Portis, Edgerrin James, Larry Johnson, Frank Gore, Tiki Barber, Steven Jackson, Shaun Alexander, Curtis Martin, Corey Dillon, Ahman Green, Deuce McAllister.

The average age for a  running back that finished the season in the top-five in rushing since 2003 has been about 26 years and seven months.

Note: Ages were not calculated to the exact day, but I did look at the months. Ages were calculated considering how old the running back was at the start of the season.

The oldest running backs to finish in the top-five in rushing during this stretch were Barber and Martin. Barber was over 31 when he rushed for 1,662 yards in 2006 and was over 30 when he rushed for 1,860 yards in 2005. Martin was over 31 when he ran for 1,697 yards in 2004. No other running backs who were 30 years or older at the start of the season finished in the top-five in rushing since 2003.

Westbrook will turn 29 right before this season starts. Other than Barber (who also rushed for 1,518 yards in 2004 when he was about 29 1/2) and Martin, the only other running back 29 or older to finish in the top five in a single season since 2003 was Dillon, who rushed for 1,635 yards while turning 30 during the 2004 season.

So there are the numbers. In the past five years, it has been unusual for older running backs to put together elite seasons rushing the football.

This post is not meant to say the Eagles should or shouldn't sign Westbrook, but rather to take a closer look at running backs and age.

What do you think?

Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports has put together rankings for all 32 NFL owners.

So the obvious question among this readership would be: Where does Jeffrey Lurie rank?

And the answer is 10th. Silver praises Lurie overall, but says some of the team's recent moves have been bizarre:

Coach Andy Reid, who last offseason had to take a leave of absence to tend to two of his sons’s legal and substance-abuse problems, has had his power base expanded; a salary-cap specialist, Howie Roseman, was promoted to vice president of player personnel; and the franchise allowed the uncertain status of franchise quarterback Donovan McNabb to become a public relations problem. The team essentially bid against itself before signing former Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel to a six-year, $57-million contract in late February and blew any potential trade leverage by failing first to unload the player he’d be replacing, Lito Sheppard.

What do you think -- agree or disagree with Silver?

His No. 1 owner was New England's Robert Kraft, with Dallas' Jerry Jones and Washington's Daniel Snyder rounding out the top three. If you're wondering how Snyder can be ranked so high, Silver puts it quite simply, saying the Redskins owner makes a lot of money and spends a lot of money to try to win.

As for the worst, Silver listed Jacksonville's Wayne Weaver 32nd, with Oakland's Al Davis and Cincinnati's Mike Brown ranked just ahead of him.

I was on the Web site for 570 KLAC in Los Angeles yesterday looking for the interview where Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer ripped into Ohio State fans, and something caught my eye.

A podcast of an interview with Freddie Mitchell. If you're like me, you haven't really thought of Mitchell too much recently. The last time I saw him was when Mitchell's photo popped up on Deadspin while he was reportedly substitute teaching in Indiana. So when I saw that there were sound bytes of Mitchell, I figured I'd better listen, and I wasn't disappointed.

Here are some highlights:

On why he isn't in the league: "For some reason, I don’t know why it’s happening, it’s not really an explanation for it. I could see if I’m calling the teams and they say you’ve lost a step, but they’re not really saying that."

On why things didn't work out in Philadelphia: "Donovan was Brad Childress’ guy and for whatever reason, Donovan didn’t like me and Brad didn’t like me.

"I know Donovan probably didn’t like me because I came from Hollywood and was this big thing from UCLA to Hollywood, coming to Philadelphia, they’re like ‘Who is this little kid coming in here getting more interviews and more media than I am?' It was bad. It was the same thing with Terrell Owens."

On how he performed during an offseason workout with the Ravens: "I did a pretty good job over there, didn’t drop one ball. They said they were going to get back to me."

On the league being a business: "If they want to blackball you out of the league, they can blackball you out of the league."

There was more. Mitchell said he's staying in shape and can run a high 4.4 in the 40-yard dash. He also had a couple great quotes that you might find inside a fortune cookie like "It's funny how society works" and "Success is situational."

Mitchell said there's no reason he shouldn't be in the league.

"I know that they know I can play in the league. I’ve done it," he said.

I guess he was referring to 2003 when he took the league by storm with 35 catches for 498 yards and two touchdowns.

If you're looking to kill 12 minutes, the radio station has the entire interview posted for your listening pleasure.

Any time a talented receiver shows discontent nowadays, it draws interest from Eagles fans.

The latest name is Anquan Boldin of the Arizona Cardinals. According to Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic, Boldin said recently that he's done talking to the Cardinals about a contract.

"At this point, I’m not even interested in a contract,” Boldin told the newspaper. “For me, it’s been going on two years, and especially after last year, I was promised a deal would get done before the season. But the season’s here and obviously that hasn’t happened.

"I don’t want a deal. People may think I’m being funny or saying that just to say it. But, for me, I’m just tired of it. Washed my hands of the whole situation. My agent has direct orders not to negotiate. So that’s how I feel about it."

Somers also reports in the article that Boldin's agent -- the ever-popular Drew Rosenhaus -- met with Cardinals GM Rod Graves Wednesday night, but the two sides are a good distant apart.

Boldin had 71 catches for 853 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games last season. He has eclipsed 1,200 yards three times in his career and has twice had over 100 catches. Many saw this squabble coming when Boldin's teammate, Larry Fitzgerald, signed a four-year, $40 million deal in the spring.

In other news...

To stick with the disgruntled wide receivers theme, Bears electrifying return man Devin Hester is holding out. Here's what he told the Chicago Tribune:

"I'm not coming," he said by phone. "I have to make a statement. I showed by going to [organized team activities] that I was a team player. But then, I just felt they weren't taking it seriously that I wanted to get a new deal.

"I can't go out and play this year making $445,000. Come on, man."

It never gets old to hear professional athletes scoff at nearly half-a-million dollars, does it?

And finally, Peyton Manning was a no-show at Colts camp as he recovers from knee surgery. According to the Indianapolis Star, Manning is expected to get enough work in the preseason to start the team's opener against the Bears. So yes, he should still be the second quarterback off the board behind Tom Brady in your fantasy drafts.

There has been a lot of discussion recently about Brian Westbrook's worth, which reminded me of a list put together by Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com a few weeks ago.

Prisco ranked the top 50 players in the NFL, starting with Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in the top two spots. So where did Westbrook come in? No. 20. Here's what Prisco wrote:

It's scary to think what the Eagles offense would be like without him. He's a better runner inside the tackles than many expected and he's good in the passing game. He's a versatile weapon.

The only two running backs Prisco had ranked ahead of Westbrook were LaDainian Tomlinson (third overall) and Adrian Peterson (15th).

The other Eagles on the list were Asante Samuel (37th) and Shawn Andrews (38th).

One interesting name ranked ahead of Westbrook was Terrell Owens, who Prisco ranked 13th.

So what do you think? Did Prisco get it right? Should Westbrook be higher or lower than No. 20? What about the rest of the list? Is Brady definitely No. 1? Does Fred Taylor really deserve a spot?

When I last spent a full year in the Philadelphia area, the Eagles were a team on the rise.

They put together an 11-5 record, and Donovan McNabb started all 16 games at quarterback. He was the team's leading rusher with 629 yards as the Eagles were forced to play several different running backs, including Darnell Autry.

Despite a loss to the Giants in the divisional round of the playoffs that year, the future was bright.

That was 2000. Since then, there have been good times and bad, and now, nobody seems too sure of what the future holds for this franchise.

As for me, I've had mostly good times since that season. My name is Sheil Kapadia, and I handle sports content for philly.com. I have been in and out of the area for the past seven-plus years, but am happy to return and am excited to be blogging about the NFL.

This is not an Eagles blog, but rather a forum to discuss the latest happenings in the NFL. Will that include Philadelphia? Sure, but the conversation will go beyond what the Birds are doing. For the latest updates from Lehigh, check out Eagletarian and Birds' Eye View. And don't forget our redesigned training camp section.

So what exactly will you find here?

Weekly picks – I can’t guarantee that they’ll do you any good, but you’ll get weekly selections with the spread once the regular season begins. There will more than likely be times when I encourage you to pick the opposite of me.

Fantasy football – That time of the season is rapidly approaching. You’ve probably recently received an e-mail from your league commissioner trying to set up a draft date. And in the next six weeks, you’ll gather with friends, make fun of each others’ selections and embark on a fantasy season that you will spend too much time on. I can’t wait. Look for my player rankings in the next few weeks.

News roundups – I’ll take a look at what’s going on around the league and link to prominent articles that might be of interest to fans. For example, The Arizona Republic reports that Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin is not expected to hold out even though he wants a new deal.

And that’s just a sampling. We’ll also do a ton on the NFL draft in the offseason, have Q&As with various football people around the country, and I hope to include a mailbag. Please feel free to e-mail me with your thoughts, questions, ideas, etc. or just comment at the bottom. This works a lot better if it’s truly a discussion.