Joshua Nijman at the Nike Football Combine in New York. [Student Sports \ Tom Hauck]
According to a report from ESPN's Jeremy Crabtree, Josuah Nijman of Fork Union Military Academy has committed, signed with and will enroll early at Virginia Tech. The 6-6, 265 pound Nijman is rated as a four-star offensive / defensive tackle prospect by 247Sports.
#Hokies landed absolute steal in DE Joshua Nijman (http://t.co/49C4IIorho) from @forkunion. College coach said "he's a freak of nature."— Jeremy Crabtree (@jeremycrabtree) December 16, 2014
Nijman reportedly also had offers from Miami, Temple & UVa. Has already signed w/ #Hokies & will enroll in Jan. Film: http://t.co/AUgWC1Rwnu— Jeremy Crabtree (@jeremycrabtree) December 16, 2014
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AWESOME NEWS! welcome.
sorry for the caps. i'm excited.
I'm pretty sure all caps is acceptable, right Joe? ;-)
Wonderful news. Welcome aboard, Joshua!
I've heard talk of him being either DL or OL, anyone know which one he will start with?
People on TSL always talk about him playing OL, but he looks like an absolute beast on the DL in those highlights. Either way, looks like a quality pick up for the good guys.
Offensive line, Defensive line, it don't matter-just ask Wyatt or Wade.
There's room for all....
Welcome!
I completely agree
Seasonal gifs..
It's better to .gif than to receive.
Mmm, sarsaparilla.
Awesome. Need some serious line help
Very exciting news!!! Welcome Joshua!!
Cool. We need it.
Some needed , great news . Welcome to VT MR. Nijman. Looking foreward to seeing you on the field rocking ALL. MAROON
Yay for the good guys. Welcome, Joshua! Here's hoping he turns out better than Josh Sweat! :-)
HA. That first play in his hudl made me chuckle. At the very least that's a 20 yard sack.
By my count it was a 27-yard loss on the sack!
This kid is a huge get, right? Like not Sweat or Dalton big, but the next step down correct? Forgive my casual recruiting fandom.
Yeah, I think that is a good take. He is an underrated prospect with some high upside. Plus, we need help on both lines.
yep. literally the next step down Sweat and Dalton have 5-star ratings. This guy has a 4-star rating. :)
But seriously, this guy has a lot of talent, and is highly rated. He's the 247 Composite #2 overall prep player nationally. #1 prep DT nationally, and #1 VA prep recruit. As a H.S. senior he was almost totally off the radar, which can happen to talented players who are viewed as big acadmic risks.
He's a great pick up and with the way our DE recruiting is going, and having him on board could let a guy like Fullwood get a look at DE
Yeah, this is a big deal. May be the best player we get all year. And two weeks ago, he said he wasn't considering us anymore because we wanted him at OL.
This kid looks like a beast from the film. Fast for a DT. Therefore can he play DE?
But a tad slow for a DE...
"Fast for a DT" is exactly how Foster & Wiles like their DT's. See Marshall, Corey and Maddy, Luther
and JC Price, Waverly Jackson, David Pugh, and Jim Davis...
Yes, see old school D-lines!
I heard the words 'Maddy' and 'Quick off the line'
He is a giant...possibly he could be nicknamed The Mountain or Mount Nijman?
The dude does look like a freak athlete but to be critical, it looks like he gets off the ball a little late
I was thinking the same thing. Wouldn't be surprised if he ends up on OL because in a couple of those clips he was very late off the snap. I guess that's better than offsides, though. So maybe that's why he doesn't end up on the OLine.
Agree he looks very long and rangy... but unless he gets bigger AND develops more twitch he may be destined for OL. Hopefully he proves us wrong but considering we need all the bodies we can get at OL it wouldn't be such a bad plan B.
Well, we all know where Searles goes to recruit OL talent.
He's very close in size to Vinny Mihota who is 6'5", 264 lbs, and at 265lbs would come in tied for 5th heaviest Defensive Linemen on the team behind Steve Sobczak (310), Luther Maddy (293), Nigel Williams (291), Ricky Walker (286), and Woody Baron (265). And heavier than Vinny Mihota, Corey Marshal (262), as well as all of our defensive ends.
My concern is that he might be too tall to be an effective Defensive Tackle in our system. Seth Dooley (6'5"), Vinny Mihota (6'5"), and Dadi Nicolas (6'4') are the only Definsive Linemen currently on our roster who are taller than 6'3", two of them are playing Defensive End and Mihota may eventually slide back out to Defensive End. Our Defensive Tackles have tended to stay in the 6'0"-6'2" range and of the tackles currently on the roster Mihota and Walker are the only ones who breaks this trend, Walker only by an inch. Recently graduated standouts Derrick and Antoine Hopkins were 6'0" and 6'1" respectively and I think Foster and Wiles tend to prefer shorter DTs since they have an easier time being the low man at the line. (As French always says of good line play, "Low Man Wins").
Is Steve Sobczak any relation to Walter Sobczak?
Not that I know of, but I'm just going off what is on his roster page at Hokie Sports:
http://www.hokiesports.com/football/players/sobczak_steve.html
All 6'5" of Chad Beasley scoffs at your assertion that our coaches prefer shorter DT's. They prefer guys who can get it done up front with the quickness, technique, and strength to attack while maintaining their gaps. If they didn't think Nijman had potential to be that kind of DT they wouldn't have offered.
I'm just going by recent history, our DTs have tended to be shorter over the last 5 or so years. I'm sure the coaches wouldn't hesitate to take and play a taller recruit at DT if they think he can do well there. By prefer I meant only in an all other things being equal sense.
For all we know though, the coaches plan to play him on the OL, will see if he can get fast enough to play at DE, or even see if he has the hands to be a TE. I actually think that he'll probably play at DT, but he could take the Wyatt Teller route and move to OL after a brief stint on Defense.
It's clear with this incoming class, that loluva won't be winning back the Commonwealth Cup anytime soon
Welcome Ninjaman!
1. Ninja man
2. The shoes
I am with Wild Turkey here. He isn't particularly quick off the ball, almost like his stance isn't quite right and he has to right himself after getting out of it. I don't see anything on most of these plays result from either his reach or being unblocked, so it doesn't tell us much about his ability to shed blocks or be quick in backside pursuit (strengths of a player like Trevon Hill.) He also has a bit of a long stride that would need to be shortened up if he were to play offensive tackle (although his reach and athleticism are always beneficial in pass protection.) For right now, I see Njiman as a defensive tackle, although a move to offense is certainly very possible. If he does move to offensive line, he will need to add some size and likely have some significant development time.
A really athletic kid and tremendous upside, but he also isn't a kid you look to for immediate production. He will need time to work on technique and add size. It is much more likely that a Fullwood or Mihota moves outside (or Xavier Burke ends up at DE) than this kid will end up at DE.
Thank for your input. As I was typing my reply above I was thinking, "French is probably going to tear all of this apart and make me look like a rube."
Don't get me wrong- he looks like a tremendous athlete. But, he is far from being a finished product and lately Foster has really looked at getting explosive edge guys who can get up field with lots of bend to play flat down the line in pursuit. I don't see that bend here.
I watched the 95 Sugar Bowl last night, and it was interesting to see how that defensive line group (Cornell Brown, JC Price, Waverly Jackson/Jim Baron, and Hank Coleman) looked much more similar size wise (minus the giant neck rolls) to the defensive line Bud used this season. His tackles were lean and could move, and his linebackers (at that time, Torrian Gray and Brandon Semones were on the edges with George Del Ricco and Myron Newsome inside) stuffing things up inside.
Torrian Gray was one hell of a player. For those of you who are too young to remember and don't feel like going back and watching film from 20 years ago (ouch, it has been that long), Gray played a similar alignment to what we saw from Deon Clarke most of the season. He had force/spill responsibility and had to take on blocks. BUT, he also had pass coverage responsibility on tight ends and slot receivers.) He was one hell of a player.
This season's Hokie defense resembles that 1995 philosophy more and more like those first Bud defenses, except the rover played in the role of the backer back then but covers from that alignment and the backer played the role of the rover but doesn't have to cover most of the time. It is fascinating to watch what once was old become new again.
Defensively, it will be interesting to see if recruiting will follow that model. Most of the DB recruits are kids who played corner in high school but may transition inside. Kids that are safeties may be those "edge" players like Clake and Clark Inc. The defensive tackle projects kind of fit into both worlds- a Whitehead and Ricky Walker are bigger kids, where a Fullwood or Mihota look like Chad Beasley or Waverly Jackson type. Nijman has that same frame, so I am thinking DT. Others (including the coaches) may not mostly because DT right now has some of the best depth on the team with Marshall, Maddy, Williams, Baron, Walker, Mihota, Sobczak, and the freshman class already in place and Settle still a possibility.
Tell me more about this old school becoming new again!!!!! Welcome to the Terror Dome may be the best comment caught on camera ever!!!
Can you imagine how viral that would have gone today??!!!
I LOVE YOU MAN....simply for the flashback to my earliest Hokies memory (fondest anyway).
It's neat to hear how Bud got back to the old roots whether intentional or not.
Oh man the '95 Sugar Bowl. That was my first trip to New Orleans. Bourbon Street is an interesting experience when you are 9. My parents and I met George Del Ricco's brother in an elevator while we were there. Pretty noticeable size difference between the two.
Yeah, Rivals hasn't rated him but the VT board host said he would probably be rated as a mid-3 star as a DE, largely based on some of the things you point out. Perhaps he'd rate a 4-star as a DT or OT.
sometimes you need some unexpected good news..
+1 this makes me want to play goldeneye
aww man who else used to execute the scientists?
You weren't the butthole who always picked proximity mines, are you?
or worse...Oddjob
Best Josh or Joshua available in this class by a wide wide margin. Can't wait to see him make someone take some onlines.
Or Yosuah, for that matter.
I suppose his last name is pronounced "Nigh-man," like the Dutch pronunciation. Anyone know for sure?
To steal one from 4VPISU, it's Ninjaman. Rhymes with Benjamin.
Awesome news. He fills 2 immediate holes in 1 signing. Please tell me he'll play on both lines for us as a OT and DE.
Giggity.
Ah, nostalgia.
loved the film on this guy, 4-star prospect too. Anybody know what state he's from? Originally, before he was a FUMA guy....
Maplewood, NJ
just saw on rivals, looks like Rivals didn't rate him at all for any positions but 247 has him as a 4-star guy. He's also recruited by Stacy Searels, could see him go to O-line, he's athleticism and long arms, height could come in handy at tackle.
If he's being brought in to play OL, suddenly the talent we have coming in for our line looks chubby worthy
Andy Bitter's article has him listed as DL/OL....I wonder if he goes OL, VT decides to send Alston Smith back to DL and Bud Foster screams at him till he gets a sack.
6'6"/265 freak of nature?
Boom.
OK, well my gif disappeared. So thats weird
I love those helmets.
Me, too. I love all things Fighting Gobbler.
Same here man...love it...miss it.
I love the fighting gobbler. I loved the matte maroon. I love that we actually won a game (no matter how ugly) in these helmets. They were basically my favorite we've ever worn.
Wow, I didn't know anyone liked those helmets. They're an abomination. I was at that game and I can assure you nobody could tell what was on the helmet.
Unless you were close to them, they looked, at best, sorta like someone mistakenly put an misshapen orange decal of the state of Texas on the helmets. And at worst, it just looked like someone puked orange on a maroon helmet.
seems like you needed better tickets.
I don't suppose this military/police force has a cavalry, do they? Asking for a friend...
My 'friend' wouldn't even need a scholarship, he'd be happy to gallop-on.
I need to move to wherever she is. That's like....super mega foxy awesome hot.
I loved 'em too. I liked the Hokie Stone helmets, too, even though they were kinda poorly executed.
Hokie Stone helmets should be worn once a year. I don't care what anyone else thinks of them, they mean a lot to us.
They looked cool but had to be heavy.
I liked them more in theory than in practice. I think they were too shiny for Hokie Stone for me - a matte one would have been badass.
When people argue this year's VT-Wake game was the worst they've ever seen I counter with that game. It was truly an abomination. That "celebration" did not help.
Yeah, but at least points were scored during that abomination
Both teams struggled to even cross midfield in the Wake game
I cannot defend the Wake game at all but there seemed to be better defense played versus that bowl game. So there was some redeeming quality. Of course, VT did not lose the bowl game and wore those awesome helmets so i may have to rethink this.
I'm not saying that our defense didn't play lights out, but it certainly didn't hurt that statistically, Wake had BY FAR the worst offense in the country this year.
http://www.cfbstats.com/2014/leader/national/team/offense/split01/category10/sort01.html
Losing every other ACC game they played by at least 20 points, they gained 20% fewer yards per game than the statistical next worse team in football. That's BAD. Like, historically one of the worst losses we've ever had levels of bad.
Did someone say 4* OL?!?!
Flip flip flipadelphia. Great episode. +leg
I agree he was slow off the line compared to some guys and will be a DT before a DE. Our DTs this year were lightning quick off the ball which is why they were successful. I know he said he wanted to play DL but I would not be surprised at all if in 2 years he was at OT.
Definitely a raw kid but a ton of potential.
6'6", 265? How does he run the inside zone read?
All jokes aside, I'm hyped.
If he's not that quick off the line, how is he at shedding blocks and plowing over OTs? If strength is his thing, cool.
Otherwise, I'm pretty sure they'll get him up to 290.
Would his height be a detriment to moving to DT? I feel that VT hasn't have much success with tackles over 6'2 and that some of the scheme fit is shorter, gap-filling DTs.
While it hasn't been the norm as of late, Chad Beasley was a legitimate 6'5 and I believe Barry Booker was 6'5.
So if he had recently said he wasn't high on us because we were looking at him playing OL possibly and he didn't want to play OL I wonder what changed his mind?? Glad to get him though whichever side of the ball he ends up on.
Coupons, man. They'll get after ya.
We start a player out at whatever position they want, and then advise them of their best opportunity for PT, NFL potentional, etc.
Interesting. So let's say you have a player who "claimed" throughout his recruitment he wanted to be a TE, but had an NFL QB body and arm...what would the VT coaches do?
Sorry I couldn't resist...
Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss! Welcome aboard, Joshua!
Great news. Thought I saw Hokie5284 say he was lost. Guess his #sorces were wrong...
Hate that for him.
I'm sad he protected his tweets. They were pretty entertaining.
He also said Sweat was a VT lock. Then afterwards no one wanted to discuss that. I would have liked a "debriefing" just to know why he thought that before the decision.
To be fair (not sure why, got some choice words for that "insider" guy), Sweat to FSU was a shock for just about everyone close to the program/family.
IIRC he actually said that Sweat was an FSU lean a couple weeks before he decided. Seems to me like he was making an educated guess and he actually isn't the "insider" he and others think he is.
I remember a few years back when 5284 and one other guy (CZY something) were just short of outright guaranteeing Korren Kirven to the Hokies. As I recall, they were basically all but claiming to have Kirven's ear in the process. It was the first year I really paid much attention to recruiting, and I was eating that all up.
So Kirven of course picked 'bama.
And after that, these two geniuses got all butthurt and said if people kept scoffing at their predictions, they'd just stop making them. That everyone else was lucky to be getting even wrong predictions from them.
Recruiting predictions are generally for shit, no matter who is making them (JReynolds aside, obviously). Self-proclaimed insiders are rarely inside anything other than their own ballooning egos. If some "guru" threatens to shut-up if you keep pointing out their mistakes, they are lying to you. Attention is their goal. Accuracy might come in 3rd or 4th on the list after dollars, page-hits and links from reputable publications.
To be fair, CZY has shown himself over the years to legitimately have sources in the VT athletic department and was friends with the Brookville HS kids' families (he was all over Logan and McCray's recruitments). However, that only gets you so far in terms of insider knowledge. At best you get "the coaches feel good/don't feel good" about a particular kid, knowledge of a commitment a few hours in advance, and a story or two after the fact. 5284 has never, to my knowledge, even shown to have that amount of insider information. I hope someone has been keeping track of his, and many others', predictions this year because they have abysmal track records.