WATCH: Matt Ryan tells local high school star tight end that he hopes to 'throw some passes to him' in NFL

Wednesday is early National Signing Day for college athletics. Marietta High School star tight end Arik Gilbert announced about two months ago that he will play college football at LSU, but this week was a major milestone in his football career for a different reason.

On Tuesday, Gilbert was awarded the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year Award. On top of that honor, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan came to his high school to hand him the award.

"It feels great, never imagined anything like this, just blessed," Gilbert said according to 11 Alive. "The hard work that I put in with my teammates, just to get ready for this season and make myself better as a player, I mean, just to see all that come together now and win an award like this is unreal."

Gilbert helped Marietta to its first state championship in more than 50 years. In 15 games, he posted more than 1,700 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. In the state championship last week, he posted a 100-yard game in the victory.

Based on the 247Sports composite rankings, Gilbert is a 5-star prospect and the No. 1 tight end in the 2020 recruiting class. He is also considered the No. 2 prospect in Georgia and ninth-best in the entire country.

Before committing to LSU in October, Gilbert was also considering staying home to play for Georgia. Ryan said in an interview with Sports Illustrated that he hopes the Falcons can bring him back to Georgia in a few years.

"I told him I'm hoping to play for four, five or six more years, so he can come back to Atlanta, and (I can) throw some passes to him."

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