Weber State football: Loading up on offense

OGDEN — Weber State put the majority of its recruiting focus on one side of the ball.

The Wildcats signed 22 players on Wednesday, and 14 of them play on offense. Six of the players signed were offensive linemen.

"We stabilized our offensive line, which was our No. 1 goal," said Weber State coach Ron McBride. "We now have 13 or 14 offensive linemen on scholarship. As long as we made the right decisions, the group should be solid for the next four or five years."

The Wildcats need immediate help on the offensive line after losing starters and key backups to graduation. Joel Turrubiates, a 6-foot-7, 340-pound tackle from Bakersfield Junior College, is most likely to step into the starting lineup right away for the Wildcats. They also added some depth with players such as Jiniki Timoteo, Alex Land and Park City High's Cash Knight.

Running back was another priority for Weber State. The school's all-time leading rusher, Trevyn Smith, played his senior season for the Wildcats last season. The team's second-leading rusher, Bo Bolen, will soon serve an LDS Church mission.

Weber State added the state's 5A MVP, Davis High's Tanner Hinds, to help fill the void. Hinds rushed for nearly 2,000 yards as a senior. The Wildcats also added running backs such as Springville High's Alema Key, as well as David Knowles, an exciting player from Hug High in Nevada.

The Wildcats didn't completely ignore the defensive side of the ball, as they added some beef in defensive tackle Veteson Sauni and end Malone Fiso. One of the top players in the class may be cornerback Xavian Johnson, who joins Weber State from Nevada.

Weber State was light on defensive recruits in this class because the team mostly signed defensive players in 2009.

Of course, it's way too early to know how well Weber State did in recruiting its 2010 class. For now, McBride is more than pleased with who he's signed. He got most of the players he targeted, and his signing class was boosted when he got three commitments on a recruiting trip to Hawaii last week.

"We just got to wait and see if they're as good as we think they are," McBride said. "As long as we evaluated correctly, this is a really solid class."

Wildcat signings

Caden Andersen Rich HS WR 6-3 195: A solid all-around athlete. He's been all-state in football and basketball, won a state championship in the high jump and taken second in the long jump. He helped Rich to the 1A football championship in the fall.