St. Louis Rams WR Torry Holt spent a few minutes with the Yard today. We spoke about Ocho Cinco, Roger Goodell, the evolution of the WR position, and also what both he and the Rams did during the offseason to improve upon last season's 3-13 record.

There is more at Blogimore Ravens; however, below is the bulk of our conversation.

EVOLUTION OF THE W.R. POSITION: "The wide receiver position is a highly developed spot on the football team. There is more attention, and guys today are bigger, faster and stronger. Some of the bigger guys -- Plaxico Burress, Randy Moss -- are running better routes now than the smaller guys."

CHAD JOHNSON'S OFFSEASON ANTICS: "I don't have a problem with it. His style is his style. I've done similar things. Not as much as some other guys, but what they do is what they choose to do. If you play at a high level consistently, you can write your own ticket. That's what I believe. Chad, T.O. and Randy... it's up to their discretion what they do."

LIFE BEYOND ST. LOUIS: "I plan to play out my two years out in St. Louis. If it doesn't work out with regard to an extension, then I would love to play in my home state of Carolina. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

HOW HE SPENT THE OFFSEASON: "After the Pro Bowl, I didn't do anything. I drank some wine. I like Merlot and Chardonnay: Kendall Jackson, Opus One, Sonoma Reserve. I also read books: fiction and non-fiction, and also some magazines. Right now I'm reading, "The Inner Game of Tennis." I can't remember the author. Tennis and golf are individual sports, unlike football, which of course is a team sport. I have a lot of respect for those guys because they're able to focus and channel their energies. They compete against themselves. They don't have teammates to keep them focused. Anyway, I got away from football, and I spent time with my family. I refreshed and let my body heal up. At minicamp last week, I was still able to create separation, still able to catch some balls."

IMPROVING THE ST. LOUIS RAMS: "New offensive coordinator Al Saunders is going to open things up a bit. The first thing Rams fans will notice out of the gate is the speed with which we're playing the game. Also that we're having fun, and of course we need to execute plays. Minicamp was very vibrant, a lot of energy. Lots of attention to detail. Coach Saunders is teaching us how to play the game. It was a very promising minicamp."

DISCIPLINARIAN ROGER GOODELL: "He sent a message in his first year: Straighten your ass up. Do what you're supposed to do. Don't be tired of doing the right thing. Stay within the code no matter who you are. Just stay on the straight and narrow. Don't hurt yourself, your team or the league. What he's doing, the impact that he has had, it's outstanding."

Ohio State upsets Cornell in NCAA lacrosse playoffs, 15-7. OSU's goalie goes length of field and scores. Next up for the Buckeyes? Duke (#1 overall seed).

Florida safety Jamar Hornsby illegally used a dead girl's credit card... for six months. Not exactly a one-time indiscretion. Hornsby stole the credit card when he was helping clean the deceased's apartment on the day following her death. What a guy.

She has beauty, brawn, but despite going to Brown, maybe no brains.

This guy doesn't need to up his caloric intake, so although his behavior in this video is odd, at least he's not actually eating the food. Somewhere, Charles Barkley is thinking, "How come I never thought of this?"

PETA must love this. Three quality videos of animals (two deers, one cow) getting smacked by rally cars. Presumably they all die and go to animal heaven; however, there is always the possibility that they landed themselves in purgatory or worse. Judging an animal's character is not something for which I am qualified. I'll post the cow video with the article, and the two deer videos I'll post in the comments. Enjoy.

R.I.P.

Suspects include Bengals owner Mike Brown, and Cubs RF Kosuke Fukudome.

You know that split-screen commercial with Kobe and Shaq? Replace those clowns with some serious actors: Baron Davis and Adam Sandler. It's a promo for the movie, "You Don't Mess With The Zohan," which opens June 6.

As a Baltimore fan, anytime you hear the words "arm strength" and "upside," your mind heads straight for Kyle Boller, which is why I can't say that I'm thrilled with Joe Flacco. Even if he pans out, trading up to #18 was a stretch. Baltimore probably could have bypassed Flacco at #26 even, and then waited until he dropped to them at the top of the second. Even then, I think it would have been a stretch.

I had hoped Baltimore would take a corner in the first round, but instead it's former first-round selection CB Fabian Washington, who played under Rex Ryan's twin brother Rob in Oakland: "They sound alike, they look alike, other than the haircut, and they say the same jokes. Everything's the same, so you feel like you went out of one office and right back in the same office."

Washington ran a 4.29/40 in 2005, making him the fastest player clocked during that year's NFL Combine. He'll pair up nicely with Chris McAlister, but he needs to be a better tackler, which is why Oakland benched him last year after the Broncos game. He became expendable as soon as the Raiders scooped up DeAngelo Hall in the offseason. Then in February, Washington was arrested for a scuffle with his girlfriend. He took responsibility for the offseason incident, apologized, and will avoid prosecution if he stays out of trouble for long enough. It sounds like maybe this guy just needed a change of scenery. If he plays like a former first-round selection, and all we gave up was a fourth-round pick, that's a good deal. Still, I wish the Ravens would have picked up more support in the defensive backfield. They chose a couple of safeties on day two, but those guys are special-teamers, not starters.

There hasn't been much word on QB Troy Smith, who played well in limited action last year. It seems that the front office is content to let Smith, Boller and Flacco battle it out for the starting job, though my guess is that Boller gets the starting nod. If that's the case, chances are Smith will drop to #3 on the depth chart, which would be a shame. Smith has potential, but he may never get a fair shot because the front office is in love with Flacco. We never gave Derek Anderson a chance to perform, and look at what he's doing now in Cleveland. Since we already know Boller is a career backup, my vote is to let Smith be the starter, plant Flacco on the bench, and let Boller do what he does best, which is stay out of the way and play only when needed.

Blogimore's QB Power Rankings:

1) Troy Smith

2) Kyle Boller

3) Joe Flacco

Baltimore's latest in the QB carousel... Joe Flacco.

If you're a Matt Ryan fan, smile and be happy that Jake Long is off the board. That increases the likelihood that DT Glenn Dorsey will be available at #3 for the Atlanta Falcons, which in turn increases the likelihood that Matt Ryan will not be headed to the Dirty Dirty. The Kansas City Chiefs (#5) also may want a QB, but the situation is less dire than it is in Atlanta.

If you're not a Matt Ryan fan, prepare to get used to him. It's looking increasingly likely that he may slip to Baltimore at #8. Another option would be the Chicago Bears trading up from #14 to select Ryan as the eventual successor to Rex Grossman and Kyle "Neck Beard" Orton.

Tight end Quinn Sypniewski injured his knee during today's practice. The injury may be serious, which is a shame because starter Todd Heap is bound to get injured as well at some point. Happens every year.

Replacing Sypniewski: The Ravens may want to target Notre Dame TE John Carlson, who is a day-two guy in next weekend's NFL Draft, with good hands and sharp instincts. Not a good blocker. Or South Carolina's Andy Boyd, a nasty blocker who may slip through undrafted and be available as a free agent. Do we want a blocker or a pass catcher? Considering we don't have a proven QB, my guess is you go for a guy like Carlson, who can pluck balls when the QB checks down.

McNair's national legacy is tied permanently to the Titans franchise; however, he earned for himself a legacy in Charm City also. He took the '06 team on his shoulders, won games he should not have won (with serious help from the D and also Matt Stover), led Baltimore to a franchise-best record, and then the clock struck midnight before the team had a chance to dance with destiny.

He hangs 'em up after 13 years in the league, and in the eyes of many has earned for himself a bust in Canton.

You remember the Duke lacrosse players accused of rape? Well, those players have set up a blog to track the lawsuit in which they are plaintiffs. Duke University and the city of Durham are both unhappy with the blog, and they're trying to shut it down.

I like Chad Johnson. As a lifelong T.O. apologist, I gave up any and all rights to criticize wide receivers who run off at the lip. But I'm still not sure why #85 is so angry with the Bengals. They're a good team with a strong offense. What they need is defense.