The Boise State Broncos opened spring practice Monday morning at Bronco Stadium. The squad will practice 15 times over the next five weeks, highlighted by the Spring Game (5 p.m. April 13).

AND SO IT BEGINS …

The Broncos worked at a crisp pace, the first time the 2013 team practiced together.

Sophomore wide receiver Shane Williams-Rhodes, who was used almost exclusively on short routes last season, made several nice catches downfield.

Cornerbacks Donte Deayon, a sophomore, and Deon'tae Florence, a junior, grabbed two interceptions each. They're the only experienced corners the Broncos have other than junior Bryan Douglas, who can't do much as he recovers from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

ASH MOVES TO OL

Sophomore Robert Ash has moved from defensive tackle to offensive guard. Ash, who was highly regarded as a high school player, wasn't able to crack the tackle rotation last season.

Offensive line coach Chris Strausser said Ash, like center Matt Paradis, was a player he wanted to move to his side of the line. The Broncos have developed defensive linemen into starting offensive linemen with some regularity in recent years - guys like Paradis, Chuck Hayes, Will Lawrence and Dan Gore.

HAWAII TRANSFER JOINS TEAM

The Broncos have added two walk-ons:

• Cornerback Promise Amadi (5-foot-9, 180 pounds) spent the past two seasons at Hawaii as a wide receiver and played in four games last year - his last appearance, in fact, was against the Broncos. He'll have to sit a year under transfer rules and will be a redshirt junior in 2014.

• Offensive lineman Tim Curry (6-2, 297) is a freshman from Pinole, Calif.

QUOTABLE

"There will be maybe not nearly as much scheme and strategy as we'll get into in the fall. We've got to get back to how to block and how to tackle and how to run and how to drop our hips and how to change directions and all those things on the football field with football gear on. We'll introduce a few new wrinkles.

"But overall, in terms of the volume of plays, it will probably be reduced as compared to the fundamental part of things." - Coach Chris Petersen, on his plan for spring ball

IN THE BRONCO BEAT BLOG

• View an updated, position-by-position roster with fresh heights and weights. You might notice bulkier quarterbacks (senior Joe Southwick is 202 pounds; freshman Nick Patti is 200) and a slimmer tailback Jay Ajayi (215), among other changes.

• Our series of position reports begins with the offensive line, which returns left tackle Charles Leno Jr. and center Matt Paradis. "Both of those guys did some really good things last year," offensive line coach Chris Strausser said. "They'd be the first to tell you, were they dominant? No. And they can be." Coming Wednesday: Defensive line.

• Check out our practice reports after each workout. Next practice: Wednesday.

• Petersen holds his first spring press conference at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Check in the late afternoon for audio and a blog post.

Available at blogs.idahostatesman.com/broncobeat/

Chadd Cripe: 377-6398, Twitter: @IDS_BroncoBeat