Jim Harbaugh Explains the Importance of a Good Offensive Line

"That group is like a fist. There are five of them playing as one."

ORLANDO -- The NFL Annual Meeting has begun.

The AFC head coaches had press conferences this morning. 49ers general manager John Lynch will speak later today, and Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the NFC head coaches will speak Tuesday, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here are the highlights of what new Chargers head coach and former 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday morning.

Q: What's your assessment of your offensive line?

HARBAUGH: "The offensive line to me is important. If I asked you the question, what position group depends on no other position group to be good, but every other position group depends on them to be good -- what position group is that? Offensive line. They're not relying on any other position group to be good, but yet every other position group relies on the offensive line to be good. And then the D-line, they'll be the ones that argue back, saying 'We don't need the offensive line to be good.' Don't you? Don't you like when the offense has a 12-play drive? And then they say, 'Ok, you're right.' Building that kind of offensive line is exciting. That group is like a fist. There are five of them playing as one."

Q: What do you remember Patrick Willis, who was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame?

HARBAUGH: " At the highest level of athleticism, toughness, talent, effort. When I think of Patrick Willis, I think of, 'By your talent and your effort, you will be known.' It's biblical to me. He was hell-bent on being great and being a great teammate and more."

ME: What do you admire about the way Justin Herbert plays quarterback and why are you eager to coach him?

HARBAUGH: "So many things hit me with that (long pause). I've gone through all his tape, all his throws. He can make them all. But getting to know him, just how much it's about the team and about winning. How much he puts into it. How much he cares about it. He wants it to be about the team. Just being able to make that step to winning -- I know that's why he's in it. Excited. Am I man enough to coach this guy? Am I man enough to be in the same division as the Chiefs? Let's step up. I want that challenge, and I know Justin Herbert wants that challenge."

Grant's No. 1 takeaway: Kyle Shanahan should carefully read Harbaugh's answer about the offensive line, because Shanahan doesn't understand it's importance. He's like one of the defensive lineman Harbaugh talked about who thinks the offensive line doesn't matter. It's no coincidence that the last time the 49ers had a dominant offensive line was when Harbaugh was the coach.

Grant's No. 2 takeaway: Harbaugh seems to have questions about Herbert's competitiveness. Harbaugh praised his ability to make all the throws, but mentioned that he hasn't been a winner, and brought up the issue of stepping up to challenges. It seems Harbaugh thinks he can infuse his own competitive fire into Herbert somehow. We'll see how that goes.