KU offensive lineman Brad Thorson talks during a radio interview at Big 12 media days in Irving, Texas.

Let’s face it: A lot of us don’t know as much about the game of football as we should.

We’ve always heard that receivers should catch the ball with their hands and not their bodies. And we know running backs should run with the ball in their outside arms. And throwing the ball away is often a smart decision by quarterbacks.

But how much do we really know about the techniques used by offensive linemen?

To help enlighten us, I tracked down Kansas University right tackle Brad Thorson for a few extra minutes during Big 12 media days last week in Irving, Texas.

In the two videos below, Brad goes through both run blocking and pass blocking, giving us some in-depth analysis about what he sees as an offensive lineman, what skills are most important and where he positions his feet, hands and arms in different situations.

Hopefully, by the end, you’ll know a little more about the offensive line position when watching KU in 2010.

Run Blocking*

* — Notice that Brad talks quite a bit about inside and outside zones. Here’s an explanation of zone runs for those wanting to know more.