Mitchell, Upshur Set Decision Dates

Mitchell strikes a pose. [Photo: Press of Atlantic City]

Let's start with the probable good news before the probable bad news. Top-100 NJ WR Ahmir Mitchell tweeted yesterday that he'll announce his decision between Michigan and Ohio State on Thursday evening. Unless there's a major shift in his recruitment between now and then, Mitchell should end up with the good guys.

Four-star PA TE Naseir Upshur set his announcement for September 1st, and while Michigan is a finalist, all signs point to Florida State being the choice.

FOOTBALL IS HERE

VICIOUS VIC VIRAMONTES WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME YOU, PUNY HIGH SCHOOL LINEBACKER, TO THE 2015 SEASON:

This was only a scrimmage, but ask #46 whether it felt like it counted.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]

FOOTBALL IS HERE, Pt. 2

Football season was underway in earnest last weekend in Indiana, where Michigan's commits had a heck of a weekend. QB Brandon Peters went 14/19 for 235 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-0 victory; the video highlights, embedded above, are impressive. His delivery is a little long but he can make all of the throws.

ATH Kiante Enis had himself a pretty productive first game.

#Michigan commit Kiante Enis- 23 carries 341 yards 4 TDs, 69 yard interception return TD.

— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong247) August 22, 2015

Pretty, pretty productive. You can see highlights from the game here.

Playing only for a half, ATH Chris Evans rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns... on four carries. He and his powerhouse Ben Davis squad face off against Peters and Avon High on Friday night; Dave and I will be there to scout and get some first-hand highlights. (We'll also be at the Prep Kickoff Classic at Wayne State on Saturday. Future Blue Originals is hitting the ground running this year.)

Speaking of Peters, who accepted an invite to the Army All-American Game over the weekend, 247 had an NFL scout break down the top five 2016 quarterbacks:

Michigan commit Brandon Peters

Strengths: 
Peters showed the scout on film that he can buy time and create. Compared to the other quarterbacks he watched, Peters was more purposeful and deliberate in the pocket. You can tell he has a good feel for the game according to the scout and he also felt as if Peters had the best combination of athleticism and mechanics. On film, the scout felt that Peters looked polished and looked like he's been coached up.

note: In reality, Peters has had limited QB coaching relative to some of the other quarterbacks that the scout watched and that could be a great sign for the development trajectory for Peters.

Concerns: 
There weren't a lot of negatives that the scout saw. Athletically, he considered Peters above average but only called him a "6 on a scale from 1 to 10 as an athlete".

When the worst a scout can come up with is "he's only pretty athletic," then you've probably got a good one.

Football Is Here, The Non-Caps Flip Side

Southfield RB commit Matt Falcon had to leave a scrimmage last week with an apparent injury and the news is not good:

FOOTBALL: Southfield running back and Michigan commit Matt Falcon is likely out for the season with a knee injury.

— STATE CHAMPS! (@statechampsnet) August 23, 2015

That's really disappointing for Falcon, who missed a large chunk of his junior year with an ankle injury. He's still a very good prospect, but questions about his durability are going to dog him until he shows he can make it through a couple seasons healthy.

Etc.

The Detroit News released their list of the top 50 players in the state. Infuriatingly, the top 20 comes in slideshow form with the caption—often covering the entire photo—serving as the writeup for each player. Cool interneting, Detroit News. Anyway, the highlights:

• #1 Detroit King WR Donnie Corley
• #2 Ann Arbor Skyline LB Daelin Hayes (USC commit)
• #3 Cass Tech OG Michael Onwenu (M commit)
• #4 Plymouth OT Michael Jordan (OSU commit)
• #5 Cass Tech WR Donovan Peoples-Jones (2017)
• #6 Southfield RB Matt Falcon (M commit)
• #7 Cass Tech S Demetric Vance (MSU commit)
• #8 Detroit King CB Lavert Hill (PSU commit)
• #9 Waterford Mott WR Des Fitzpatrick (Louisville commit)
• #10 Harrison DE Khalid Kareem (Alabama commit)
• #14 OLSM LB Josh Ross (2017)
• #16 Farmington ILB David Reese (M commit)
• #49 Brother Rice TE Carter Dunaway (2017 M commit)

Several other 2017 targets made the list; I admittely haven't seen many of the guys on the list in person, but I think De La Salle RB Allen Stritzinger came in a little low here.

After seeing him at one of the Florida satellite camps, Michigan is running third for five-star 2017 FL DE Jarez Parks, per 247's Ryan Bartow ($):

The 6-foot-5, 255-pounder, who holds 21 scholarship offers, says that Florida, Alabama and Michigan are his top three in order. He plans to check out games at UF, Florida State and Miami this season. 

Happy trails to top-ranked 2017 QB Hunter Johnson, who committed to Tennessee yesterday.