With Pitt's spring football practices concluding with Saturday's spring game, the Panthers gave out their annual Conway Awards to the most improved offensive and defensive players. This year, those went to wide receiver Jester Weah and defensive lineman Shakir Soto.

On offense, it's good to see Weah making some progress. He's always been known as a speedster with hands that weren't quite ready for gametime. Weah made some impressive catches (finishing with three for 102 yards) in Saturday's spring game and appears to have made some real strides. With Pitt in need of receivers to step up with the departure of Tyler Boyd, his emergence, particularly as a deep threat, is a very good thing.

Defensively, it's also promising to see Soto performing well since he changed positions this spring, moving from defensive end to the inside of the line. Per the Trib's Jerry DiPaola, he added 27 pounds of weight in the offseason to bulk up a bit and Soto's strong play in the spring is exactly what Pitt needs being so thin at defensive tackle.

Those two guys are going to be needed this fall and it's nice to see they put in some good work this spring.

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