Lamar Jackson honored as nation's top player with Maxwell Award

This could be the start of a big weekend for Lamar Jackson.

Prior to Saturday's Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York, the Louisville quarterback was named the 2016 Maxwell Award winner as the nation's best player on Thursday night.

It was hard to deny Jackson the honor this year, as the pivot totaled a whopping 51 touchdowns while running for better than 1,500 yards.

"To win this award means a lot. Being the first one to ever do it at the University of Louisville, I'm in shock right now," Jackson said. "I have butterflies. I ain't never had them before, besides my first time playing football."

Jackson caught many by surprise in his 2016 sophomore season, after posting somewhat mediocre numbers as a freshman. In 2015, the signal-caller had just 12 touchdowns through the air, but more than doubled that total this time around with 30.

Many people feel Jackson is a lock to win the Heisman, as he's been the wire-to-wire favorite since Week 1. Earlier in the day he also claimed the Walter Camp Award, but lost the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's top quarterback to Clemson's Deshaun Watson.