KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After a record-setting campaign that saw him shatter the franchise record for touchdown passes and passing yards, it's no surprise that Patrick Mahomes took home the club's Derrick Thomas Award as team MVP for the 2018.
Mahomes finished the season with 5,097 passing yards and 50 touchdowns tosses. He ranks eighth all-time in league history for most passing yards in a season and ties with Tom Brady for the second-most touchdown passes in a season. He led the league in touchdown passes, total offense and QBR among other categories.
Offensive lineman Andrew Wylie won the team's Mack Lee Hill Award for rookie of the year. Wylie played in all 16 games this season, starting 10 in place of injured right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. He picked up just two penalties all season.
Wylie is the team's first undrafted player to win the award since cornerback Maurice Leggett in 2008. He entered the league in 2017 as an undrafted free agent, but remains a first-year player due to his lack of NFL service time. Linebacker Mike Maslowski was the last Chiefs player to win the award under similar circumstances, earning top rookie honors in 1999 after entering the league in 1997.
The award winners are selected by a vote of the team's players and coaches.
It speaks to the Chiefs' struggles to find a franchise quarterback that Mahomes marks just the seventh occasion for a passer to win the team's MVP award since inaugurated in 1979. Previous quarterback recipients include Bill Kenney (1983), Steve DeBerg (1990), Trent Green (2003-04) and Alex Smith (2015 and 2017).
The last offensive lineman to win the club's top rookie performer award was tackle Victor Riley in 1998.
