Good evening all.

My name is Mike, and I’m happy to announce that I’ll be joining Chas as a writer here at Pitt Blather. I’ve spent many years here, first as a casual reader and in more recent years as an active poster. You guys are a vital part of this great community, and I look forward to continuing the standard of excellence that the Blather has come to know.

As always, I will remain active in the comments section. Ultimately, the backbone of this site is the tremendous dialogue, and I wouldn’t give that part up for anything. If you like what I have to say, that’s great; if you don’t like what I have to say, that’s great, too.

Now, with introductions out of the way…

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Okay, so Aaron Donald continued to dominate the Senior Bowl practices. Hey, another honor:

Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald has been selected as the Most Outstanding Overall Player during Reese’s Senior Bowl practices, the top honor in the Alabama Power Practice Awards.

“Donald is a very explosive defensive tackle,” said Mike Smith, the coach of the Atlanta Falcons who is guiding the North team this week. “I’ve been very impressed with him. He’s short in stature by NFL standards and doesn’t maybe have all the measurables, but he’s one of the more explosive guys we have on the North squad. He’s done a very nice job both in the running and the pass game.”

Last year, Central Michigan offensive tackle Eric Fisher was selected by NFL scouts as the Most Outstanding Overall Player during practices for the Senior Bowl, and he went on to be the first player selected in the 2013 NFL Draft.

As I have said, Donald will take a hit on his draft status at the NFL Combine as teams get hung up on measurables, but I believe he won’t get past the second round.

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I really am not worried about the Pitt players looking past Maryland tomorrow evening. Simply because too many Pitt players are going to have family and friends at the game.

The Panthers have four players from the Washington-Baltimore area and a fifth, Lamar Patterson, is from Lancaster, which isn’t that far away.

“There will definitely be a lot of family and friends coming to the game for us,” said Pitt point guard James Robinson, who is from Mitchellville, Md., and went to DeMatha Catholic, which basically is in the shadow of Maryland’s campus.

“A lot of us are going home or at least close to home, so we’re looking forward to seeing a lot of family and friends. It is going to be a fun atmosphere to play in. We’re expecting a rowdy crowd.”

Beyond Robinson, the Panthers have three players — Jamel Artis, Aron Nwankwo and the injured Durand Johnson — from Baltimore, one of Pitt’s prime recruiting areas.

This game matters and is something they circled.

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