Ben Roethlisberger, Santonio Holmes get props from Cowher

CBSsportsline has an excellent Q&A with Cowher in which he basically agrees that the NFL is moving toward a pass-first league, that he's not surprised the Steelers passed more last year and that he expects them to continue passing more this year than in years past. With the addition of Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed, the offensive output might even be greater, he says.

Cowher also verifies what we fantasy geeks have figured out - O lines matter. The departure of Faneca will be bad for the Steelers and good for Thomas Jones - both points I've made. (/pats self on back) Faneca will lend his knowledge to third-year tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and third-year center Nick Mangold, making them better as well, he adds.

Finally, Cowher confirms the third year receiver phenomenon in a discussion on Santonio Holmes. Holmes, by the way got 942 and 8 last year with an 18.1 average yards per catch.

There, I told you all you need to know about the article, but it is an enlightening read and probably not time wasted if you want to check it out.

The Mustard: This bodes well for Roethlisberger, Santonio Holmes and Thomas Jones, plus I see no reason that Heath Miller couldn't reproduce last year's stats. Miller was steady if not particularly explosive last year. If the Steelers decide to compensate for the loss of Faneca by passing to open up the run, then Big Ben, Holmes and Miller could all be value plays. Thomas Jones, you know already, I'm high on this year as a value play that's almost sure to exceed his draft day cost. I haven't studied Mendenhall and Willie Parker, so if I had to draft today, I'd avoid them both until at least RB3.