By Chadd Cripe
ccripe@idahostatesman.com

Boise State freshman defensive end Jarrell Root will miss the rest of spring ball with a knee injury, coach Chris Petersen said Tuesday. Root will have arthroscopic surgery, Petersen said.

Root should be back for fall camp.

Root is the Broncos’ No. 3 end, behind senior Mike T. Williams and sophomore Ryan Winterswyk. The Capital High product was the Defensive Scout Player of the Year last fall.

Root (6-3, 233) is part of a stellar group of freshman defensive linemen who are expected to make a big impact this year. The others are tackles J.P. Nisby (6-2, 308), Billy Winn (6-4, 260) and Chuck Hayes (6-3, 250).

The Broncos also have two grayshirt freshmen in spring ball — end Shea McClellin (6-4, 250) and tackle Chase Baker (6-1, 285). They hope to redshirt the duo to avoid overloading one class.

“They’re strong, they’re fast, they’re big guys,” senior offensive guard Andrew Woodruff said of the freshman linemen. “… They’re going in and just fitting in.”

Defensive line coach Pete Kwiatkowski likes the group’s attitude.

“They’ve got a lot of enthusiasm,” he said. “The energy is there and the effort and the want to.”

The execution, on the other hand …

“They’ve still got a long way to go,” Kwiatkowski said.

Nisby draws a lot of eyes at practice because of his size and power. He led the team with a 620-pound squat during winter conditioning.

“He’s one strong dude,” Winterswyk said.

Still, conditioning is an issue for Nisby.

“He’s got to get in a little better shape,” Kwiatkowski said. “He just can’t for whatever reason go more than three or four plays in a row.”

On the veteran side, the Broncos have seniors Sean Bingham, Joe Bozikovich and Steven Reveles at tackle and senior Phillip Edwards at end. Sophomore Kapono Rawlins-Crivello also is an end.

Bingham (6-3, 265) moved to tackle this spring and seems to fit well. At end, he would have been No. 4 behind Root.

“It’s better for (Bingham) and better for the team,” Kwiatkowski said. “He’s good against the run.