The offensive line, linebackers and secondary received a boost Wednesday when the Fresno State football team signed 22 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent.

Scout.com ranked the Bulldogs’ recruiting class 81st nationwide and sixth in the Mountain West. Rivals.com had it 76th in the nation and tied for third in the conference. Five signees also received offers from major-conference schools, and four are 3-star recruits.

“It’s a really exciting day for our football program,” said Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter. “I really like the direction our program is going with this class. I think it’s going to be a backbone for our program going forward.”

The new signees address needs that the Bulldogs had, DeRuyter said. With six seniors departing from the offensive line, the Bulldogs focused their attention on replenishing the position.

“In signing 22 young men, you have to balance it between offense and defense,” DeRuyter said. “We definitely wanted to strengthen our offensive line numbers-wise, and we signed five young men who I think have done that.”

Among the signees is 3-star inside linebacker Michael Lazarus from Berkeley, Calif. Lazarus tallied 18 sacks during his senior season at Berkeley High School. He received offers from Arizona State, California, Washington State and Wisconsin, but decided on Fresno State.

“I really have been impressed with Michael’s character,” DeRuyter said. “He’s a young man who gave us his word that he was going to be a Bulldog a while ago. He had a lot of BCS schools make runs at him trying to convince him to go to other places and he held strong. We’re excited to have him as part of our family.”

Offensively, two tight ends and three wide receivers were signed to replace the departing Davante Adams and Isaiah Burse. The new receiving class also brings versatility to the team, as all three have experience as punt and kick returners.

“I think our special teams is going to be affected by having those types of bodies — the long guys who can run — to help us out,” DeRuyter said.

The Bulldogs signed one quarterback, Kilton Anderson of Naples, Fla. Anderson had originally verbally committed with the University of South Alabama, but decommitted after the school’s quarterbacks coach became offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, according to Rivals.com.

With a total of 25 scholarships available, Fresno State left three scholarship spots open for transfers or walk-ons.

“We are going to keep a couple of scholarships open this spring,” DeRuyter said, “as we go through spring ball and identify potential new needs as well as possibly having one open for transfers.”

Homegrown talent

Sixteen out of the 22 recruits come from California, slightly above last season’s 17 of 24. However, only one — tight end Kyle Riddering of Clovis North High School — comes from the Central Valley. That is the lowest number in DeRuyter’s three seasons as head coach.

Last year, the Bulldogs had three signees from the Valley.

“We always start right here,” DeRuyter said. “We start in the city of Fresno and work out from the Valley. The majority of our young men are going to come from California.”

The state of Texas had the second-most signees with three. One recruit is from Louisiana: Keyan Williams, whose father Keith was a Fresno State receivers coach under Pat Hill.

“I do think it’s good to have a national look at things,” DeRuyter said. “With the Internet now, you don’t have to necessarily get in a plane to identify prospects.”

Fresno State offered scholarships to a total of 16 Central Valley student-athletes. Five of them came from either Fresno or Clovis, with one (Riddering) signing. The other four went to Pac-12 schools.

Cornerback Isaac Brutton of Visalia has expressed interest in signing, but has not officially committed.

“Young men decide to go to schools for a number of reasons,” DeRuyter said. “We offered and recruited hard in the entire city. [Offensive coordinator] Pete Germano knows that this is a very important area for us. Sometimes kids just want to go out of town.”

The recruits will have a chance to vie for starting spots during the spring and offseason.

“We’re hoping people jump on board with season tickets,” DeRuyter said. “We’re looking to three-peat next year. With this year’s recruiting class, we think we have a great shot at putting together another team that’s going to make a championship run.”

The list of signings is below:

Offensive Lineman (5)

Art Gomez (6-5, 280) Compton, Calif. (Downey HS)

Jacob Hicks (6-5, 310) Sebastopol, Calif. (Analy HS)

Bobby Johnson (6-5, 300) Carson, Calif. (Carson Senior HS)

Aaron Mitchell (6-2 285) San Diego, Calif. (Cathedral Catholic HS)

Ben Simonds (6-4 260) La Quinta, Calif. (La Quinta HS)

Quarterback (1)

Kilton Anderson (6-3, 205) Naples, Fla. (Skyline [Wash.] HS)

Wide Receiver (3)

KeeSean Johnson (6-1, 170) Palo Alto, Calif. (Palo Alto HS)

Jamire Jordan (5-11, 170) Palmdale, Calif. (Highland HS)

Keyan Williams (5-10, 175) New Orleans, La. (Lusher Charter HS)

Tight End (2)

Chad Olsen (6-5, 225) Chico, Calif. (Pleasant Valley HS)

Kyle Riddering (6-6, 250) Fresno, Calif. (Clovis North HS)

Defensive Lineman (2)

Sam Akoteu (6-2, 290) Gardena, Calif. (Junipero Serra HS)

Kyle Hendrickson (6-4, 250) Escondido, Calif. (San Pasqual HS)

Linebacker (4)

Justin Green (6-4, 200) Oak Park, Calif. (Oak Park HS)

Michael Lazarus (6-2, 225) Berkeley, Calif. (Berkeley HS)

Tobenna Okeke (6-2, 200) Missouri City, Texas (Elkins HS)

Xavier Ulutu (6-1, 240) San Diego, Calif. (Cathedral Catholic HS)

Secondary (4)

Corey Ferguson (5-10, 190) Orlando, Fla. (Fullerton College)

Anthoula “Tank” Kelly (5-11, 180) Galena Park, Texas (Galena Park HS)

DeShawn Potts (5-11, 170) Duarte, Calif. (Monrovia HS)

Malcolm Washington (6-2, 170) Houston, Texas (Alief Elsik HS)

Athlete (1)

Chris Moliga (5-11, 205) San Diego, Calif. (Cathedral Catholic HS)