When the Seattle Seahawks selected offensive lineman James Carpenter with the 25th overall pick in 2011, they picked him ahead of guys who they thought were better overall football players.

"Sure, that’s absolutely true," general manager John Schneider said during an interview on 950 AM KJR this month.

Personnel evaluators are hesitant to use the word "need" this time of year because it has a negative connotation and suggests potential reaches. But the truth is that need always matters.

For example, even if the Seahawks have a quarterback or free safety as their best overall player at No. 26 this week, it would make no sense to draft those positions when they have young players like Russell Wilson and Earl Thomas tied up to long-term contracts.

"We grade for what our team looks like," Schneider siad. "Now what ends up happening is you just have specific positions that are pushed, if you will, like the year that we took Carp. Everybody thought that we took Carp too high, right? Well, we had a specific need. So that’s why he was moved up. And that’s the way we’ve done it over the years."

It's not necessarily what the Seahawks' needs are right now, but fairly assessing the roster when putting together the draft board makes sense.

"We are always looking toward the future in terms of, how do we address who’s coming up as a free agent or who can compete at left guard? Who can compete at center? Or right tackle," Schneider said. "Those are the things that we focus on. ...Our grades reflect what our team looks like."

The philosophy applies to a couple specific positions in this year's draft.

One is obviously offensive line. The Seahawks lost left tackle Russell Okung and right guard J.R. Sweezy in free agency. They signed J'Marcus Webb to a "prove it" deal and expect him to compete for the starting job at right tackle. The plan is to give Garry Gilliam a shot at left tackle. Patrick Lewis at center, Mark Glowinski at right guard and Justin Britt at left guard are penciled in as starters, but nobody up front is guaranteed a spot.

It would be a major surprise if the Seahawks came out of the first two days of the draft without an offensive lineman. Last year they selected three, all on Day 3.

The other area to keep an eye on is interior pass rush. Frank Clark figures to take more of Bruce Irvin's snaps at right defensive end. Michael Bennett is one of the best interior pass-rushers in the NFL, but the Seahawks could use a player to pair with him. This is a scenario where need could meet best available player. Defensive tackle is considered a loaded group, and the Seahawks lost Brandon Mebane in free agency. Jordan Hill, meanwhile, will be a free agent after 2016.

A three-down defensive tackle certainly could be an option in the first few rounds.

And then there's the other side of the coin. Along with quarterback and safety, it would make little sense for the Seahawks to spend draft capital on an off-the-ball linebacker. They have young players like Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright signed to long-term deals.

General managers around the league will talk about "the best available player" constantly this week. But as Schneider explains, that's a relative term, especially for a team like the Seahawks, whose Super Bowl window is wide open.

There's a balance for sure, and reaching for specific positions can cause teams to miss out on good players. But the Seahawks' method of factoring in need when putting together the draft board mostly has served them well in building one of the most talented rosters in the NFL.