Boise State adds 19 football players

BOISE – For Boise State coach Chris Petersen, the gems of his 2011 recruiting class are the future grinders and grapplers who win the battles in the trenches.

Six of the 19 new recruits Petersen announced on national signing day Wednesday are projected for the offensive and defensive lines.

The list of future linemen includes Marcus Henry, a first-team all-state player from Bellevue and Adam Sheffield, a first-team, all-state offensive lineman from California.

Touting new guards and defensive tackles may not be the sexiest strategy for pumping up a recruiting class, but Petersen says it was time to fill some holes up front and develop players who can maintain the Broncos’ winning ways as they move up to the Mountain West Conference this fall.

“In an ideal world, I think you’d take three defensive linemen and three offensive linemen every year,” Petersen said. “But you never know who is going to pan out.”