T hrough grainy footage from odd angles, Chiefs coach Herm Edwards kept seeing things he liked out of the big cornerback from Grand Valley State.</p><p>It&#8217;s a Division II school, the kind NFL scouts aren&#8217;t normally sent to, but this cornerback kept showing up, kept grabbing Edwards&#8217; attention and wouldn&#8217;t let it go.</p><p>&#8220;I liked what I saw,&#8221; Edwards said Wednesday.</p><p>When the draft rolled around this last April, Edwards took the elevator down to the first level at Arrowhead Stadium. He walked into the auditorium, where on that day, the Chiefs&#8217; draft team had assembled. Team president Carl Peterson was there. So was player personnel director Bill Kuharich. So were about a dozen others.</p><p>It was Edwards&#8217; birthday. The men wished Edwards a happy 54th, and then someone motioned toward the Chiefs&#8217; draft board and said: &#8220;Coach, who do you want for your birthday?&#8221;</p><p>Edwards looked at the board and pointed to Brandon Carr, that big cornerback from the small school, the one that kept coming in clear through grainy tape.</p><p>&#8220;That guy right there,&#8221; Edwards recalled saying. &#8220;Pick that guy right there. That&#8217;s the guy we want.&#8221;</p><p>It&#8217;s been more than five months since the Chiefs drafted Carr with the fifth pick in the fifth round. Carr is more than a rookie. He represents the pending outcome of the Chiefs&#8217; great gamble: the rebuilding project that team officials hope will lead them deep into the 2010 playoffs.</p><p>Edwards said late in training camp that certain players would determine whether the Chiefs&#8217; first draft of the youth movement was a success. One of them was Carr. And Edwards said on an August afternoon that if Carr, a gamble himself, worked his way into the starting lineup, it was proof the Chiefs were making the right decisions. It would mean the Chiefs were benefiting from good scouting and better luck, two things essential to the success of such an undertaking.</p><p>Carr started Sunday in a 33-19 win against Denver. He replaced veteran Patrick Surtain, who was out with a shoulder injury. Carr had two tackles and a fumble recovery. Surtain is better now, but Edwards might start Carr anyway.</p><p>If Carr starts in place of Surtain, does that mean the rookie has arrived? Perhaps. Edwards said the rookie is better than he&#8217;s shown. But more important: Have the Chiefs legitimized their new philosophy, as Edwards suggested that breezy August afternoon?</p><p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; Edwards said Wednesday. &#8220;It&#8217;s working.&#8221;</p><p>Edwards said the reason Carr&#8217;s development is so important to the Chiefs&#8217; growth is because Carr was a low-round pick that, as of now, is becoming what the team hoped he would. It means the Chiefs are scouting the right prospects, finding elite athletes in unlikely places &#8212; places such as Grand Valley State &#8212; and molding them into viable players.</p><p>Early-round players such as Glenn Dorsey and Branden Albert and Brandon Flowers? Edwards said those were easy because the Chiefs knew they were drafting talented players with such high picks. But it&#8217;s the late rounds when teams bet on players to become jewels &#8212; but accept that some are more likely to be wastes.</p><p>Carr said he doesn&#8217;t know why Edwards liked him. He doesn&#8217;t know why the Chiefs used a draft pick and a coach&#8217;s birthday wish on a cornerback from Grand Valley State. Carr doesn&#8217;t know why one meeting with Edwards convinced the coach that Carr was an essential pick, one of 12 players that key members of the organization are risking their reputations and jobs on.