Yosuah Nijman is a senior offensive lineman at Virginia Tech.
Getting to know Hokie football players: Yosuah Nijman (6-4, 314) is a senior from Maplewood, N.J. who came to Blacksburg after a year at Fork Union Academy. Initially, he came into camp as a defensive end but switched to the offensive line where he has 22 starts over the past two seasons and will play a major role this season.
While at Fork Union, he was rated at the number 2 Top Prep School Recruit in the country by the 247Sports Composite Rankings along with the number 1 defensive tackle and to prep player in Virginia.
His parents are originally from Suriname, a country in South America, and Yosuah studied abroad during the summer of 2017 in Rwanda as part of the class UAP 3984: Sport, Policy and Society. He is majoring in consumer studies.
Last season, he was sidelined with an injury but is back in the saddle, healthy and ready to make a difference for the Hokies.
Q: How does it feel to be back to 100 percent and starting on the offensive line?
“I took my time with recovering and doing rehab properly, and now I feel good and back to my 2016 shape. It’s been a long process of getting healthy again, but it feels great to be back competing with my teammates.”
Q: How was it starting the season off with a big win over Florida State in a tough environment?
“It felt great. We are taking it one game at a time, and we still have a lot to work on. We are putting pieces together as a team right now and are just focusing on ourselves. It’s important for us to focus on ourselves because the rest will take care of itself.”
Q: What are you and the offensive line group working on specifically this early in the season?
“We are just catching up on the flow of the game week, with what that entails every seven days. A big thing is learning on our opponent and becoming aware of what we all need to know about its schemes. Another thing is cleaning up on our mistakes from the previous game and working hard to correct those going into the next game.”
Q: What are some of the things you like to do in your free time?
“Well, I’m actually not a big fan of Fortnite (laughing), but during my free time I read my Bible and listen to different genres of music – EDM, alternative, etc. I also will sit and read or hang out with my friends and watch some movies or shows. My favorite show right now is Ozark: Season 2 on Netflix. I also enjoy horror and suspense movies, thrillers.”
Q: What is your major and what would you like to do with that down the road besides the NFL?
“My major is consumer studies and I would like to help people in the future, specifically ones that are less fortunate. In America, people can be on food stamps and public assistance, so I would like to have a job where I can help those people who are in the lower class. We live in a country where capitalism allows people to make a lot of money, but that being said, when people get richer, others can become poorer. So, I want to help people who have a tough time helping themselves based on their situation. Another thing I’m interested in after my time at Tech is coaching football, possibly back at my high school.”
–VT Athletics
