Carl Peterson’s legacy in Kansas City will be determined by the success of this draft class. Or, more to the point, Peterson needs this class to be outstanding to salvage a decent standing amongst the Chiefs’ faithful.

Regardless of how well the Chiefs rebound from their disaster 2007 campaign, Peterson’s entering his final years as president and general manager of the franchise he’s directed since 1989. There’s a tacit agreement between Peterson and owner Clark Hunt that the long-time leader of the Chiefs is best off jetting into retirement when his contract expires after the 2009 season, but there was more than a smattering of folks who figured he’d would need to have a standout draft this weekend to ensure he’d even make into ’09.

Mission accomplished. The football gods were smiling on Kansas City when Glenn Dorsey, considered by many the most talented player in the draft, dropped to the fifth pick, and the Chiefs wisely pounced on the opportunity. The pick of Dorsey was more fortuitous than cunning, but their second first-round selection was an equal mixture of good fortune and savvy. Sitting at the Vikings’ No. 17 slot courtesy of the Jared Allen trade and seeing Virginia’s Branden Albert sitting for the picking at 15, Kansas City gave up a fifth-rounder and swapped third-rounders with Detroit to move up and nab him.

The most versatile lineman in this draft, Albert was shooting up draft boards in the weeks leading up to the draft, and is considered a steal at the 15th spot. He’ll be the best player on a shoddy line from the start, with Herm Edwards having the option of inserting him at either guard position or right tackle.

Make no mistake, Peterson put all his eggs into the Allen deal. And while I still think the trade was foolish, Peterson has redeemed himself as well as he possibly could’ve with his first two selections.

With a league-high 13 picks to play around with, the Chiefs had the ammunition to go in a number of different directions. And with the full understanding that they wanted to stockpile picks as part of as complete a makeover job as the NFL has seen in years, the Chiefs were surely tempted to trade down even more. But ultimately, they saw golden opportunities to take premier talents, even if it went against their overarching 2008 draft philosophy of quantity over quality.

We’re still just at the end of the first round, but so far this draft class is shaping up as one that could save the future of the franchise. And if the future unfolds as brightly as they’re hoping, the once vilified Peterson should be able to regain his good name.