Jayden Daniels, the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from LSU, has been selected as the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s James J. Corbett Award winner as the top male amateur athlete in the state of Louisiana.
The New Orleans Sports Awards Committee announced the selection Tuesday.
Daniels spent the 2023 season rewriting the LSU record books. He dominated the college football awards circuit by winning the Heisman Trophy, The Associated Press Player of the Year and the Manning Award, as well as collecting numerous first-team All-America honors.
Daniels is the 14th LSU football player to win the Corbett Award since its inception in 1967.
“It’s truly an honor to be named the winner of the Corbett Award as the top amateur athlete in the state of Louisiana,” Daniels said. “I owe a great deal to LSU and the state of Louisiana as they welcomed me with open arms when I transferred here from Arizona State nearly three years ago. LSU and coach Kelly provided me with an opportunity to grow as a player, while also helping me create an identity for myself outside of football.
"This honor wouldn’t be possible without my great teammates and coaches. I’m very thankful for their support, friendship and the memories that we created. I love everything about LSU and Louisiana, and I am humbled to have my name placed alongside some of the great athletes who are previous winners of this award.”
Daniels, who became LSU’s third Heisman Trophy winner (joining Billy Cannon from 1959 and Joe Burrow from 2019), put together a sensational senior season, leading the nation in total offense with 4,946 total yards, ranking second in passing touchdowns (40) and fifth in passing yards (3,812). He also topped all quarterbacks with 1,134 yards rushing.
His 412.2 total yards per game were more than 85 FBS teams, and his 50 total touchdowns were more than 91 teams scored this year.
“It’s exciting to know that that guy’s on your team, first of all,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said after one of Daniels’ record-setting performance. “And then there’s this sense of whatever you call, it’s going to be executed.”
Daniels accounted for at least four touchdowns in nine games and joined Burrow as the only players in LSU history to reach the 500-yard mark three times in a season. In all, Daniels topped the 400-yard mark six times in 2023.