Louisiana Tech's Quinton Patton is for real, and he showed it all week. (USAT Sports Images)

MOBILE, Ala. -- Yes, there is still a Senior Bowl game to be played on Saturday, but the hay is pretty much in the barn from a personnel perspective when Thursday practices wrap up, and NFL teams have seen how the best senior draft prospects line up against one another in a dizzying array of drills and situations through practice week. Here are the players who really turned our heads on the offensive side of the ball.

E.J. Manuel, QB, Florida State: Tape shows that Manuel will throw erratically at times, and everyone knows that his decision-making needs work, especially when his first read is covered. But as a pure thrower, I think he's pretty seriously undervalued. Time after time in practices, Manuel made accurate stick throws downfield across his body, and once in a while, he'd rip off a really nice touch throw over the top. Matt Waldman of Football Outsiders, the Rookie Scouting Portfolio, and the New York Times summarized my thoughts about Manuel better than I could in this Times piece, but the short version is that I believe Manuel's a bit of a blank slate. In the right system -- heavy motion and boot action -- and with the right kind of coaching -- he's got a great deal of potential.

Mike Glennon, QB, North Carolina State: None of the six signal-callers at the Senior Bowl looked "elite" (to use that overdone quarterback term), and that was expected in a generally weak class at the position. But of all the pocket passers, I thought Glennon showed the best overall skill set. He stood tall in the pocket and was not tentative with his throws, and he's a better mobile thrower than you'd think at 6-foot-7. He's still iffy under pressure (which shows up more on tape than in practices in which quarterbacks are not to be taken down) and there are mechanical issues to deal with, but Glennon at least set himself up to be a slightly bigger fish in that small pond.

Mike Glennon might have been the best in an average batch of quarterbacks. (USAT Sports Images)

Stepfan Taylor, RB, Stanford: We knew that Taylor was a high-quality power runner with excellent fundamentals, because that's the kind of player one gets from the coaching of Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw. The surprise to me during practices this week was Taylor's edge speed -- more than once, he would hit the edge and burn past a cornerback for a good gain. At his best, I think Taylor could become a mid-period Willis McGahee -- bulling inside from all parts of the field, and stealing red zone carries.

Johnathan Franklin, RB, UCLA: We already knew that Oregon's Kenjon Barner is great in space and is bulking up to block like an NFL player. Franklin, however, put on a show this week that I'm not sure a lot of people expected. There were some questions about his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, but I didn't see that problem here, nor did I see his alleged issues with breaking tackles. What I liked most about Franklin was his patience to the hole, and his subsequent ability to blast through gaps and be very nimble in space. At 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, Franklin may have come out of this week as the second-best every-down back prospect behind Taylor.

Marquise Goodwin, WR, Texas: There's been as much buzz about Goodwin this week as there has been about anyone, but it took a while for me to buy in -- until I saw him in Thursday morning practice, making defenders look silly with his pure speed and agility. Of course, Thursday was the non-contact portion of the week, which allowed Goodwin to display those attributes without a nagging inability to catch against contact and consistently break free from more aggressive defensive backs. He's got Olympic-level speed, but you want to see more strength, especially when he transitions to the NFL. Right now, he's a speed slot guy who will need the benefit of multi-receiver sets to give him matchups against smaller nickel and dime corners.

Quinton Patton, WR, Louisiana Tech: Perhaps the most impressive receiver overall this week, at least in my eyes. Patton showed impressive foot quickness in cone drills, surprised with quick cuts in drills and on the practice field, and has a toughness in traffic that could see him as a #1 receiver in the right system. The lack of that extra gear may drop him on some draft boards, but if you want a great overall receiver who can do just about anything -- especially at the intermediate level -- you won't do much better in this draft class.

When Elon's Aaron Mellette gets the ball, good things tend to happen. (USAT Sports Images)

Aaron Mellette, WR, Elon:

Jeff Saturday will retire after the Pro Bowl (USA Today Sports Images)

Longtime Indianapolis Colts and current Green Bay Packers center Jeff Saturday announced on Friday that he intends to retire following Sunday night's Pro Bowl, Phil Richards of the Indianapolis Star reports.

Saturday, 37, made the disclosure on the "Grady and Big Joe Show" on 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis.

"We’ll finish it with sunsets in Hawaii and call it a much better career than I would have anticipated," Saturday said.

Saturday went undrafted out of the University of North Carolina in 1998 and was signed by the Baltimore Ravens, who released him before that year's training camp. Saturday spent the 1998 season working in an electrical supply store in Raleigh, North Carolina before he was signed by the Colts in January of 1999.

Saturday was a reserve for much of his rookie season, making a pair of starts in the middle of the season, before becoming a full-time starter in 2000. From 2000-11, Saturday would start 186 of 192 regular season games, earning Pro Bowl honors in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 and All-Pro honors in 2005 and 2007.

(USA Today Sports Images)

One of the many interesting subplots to the Super Bowl - and one that actually has a real effect on either franchise - is Joe Flacco's contract status.

Any debate of whether Flacco, whose contract is up at the end of the season, will get paid by the Ravens is over. If Baltimore were to let Flacco test the market after he led them to a Super Bowl and played so well through the playoffs, it would be unprecedented. In short, it's just not happening.

But that doesn't mean Flacco will be handed a blank check after the Super Bowl. Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said Flacco's playoff performance won't have an effect on negotiations, according to his comments to the Baltimore Sun.

(USA Today Sports Images)San Francisco 49ers fans love Colin Kaepernick. The 49ers media probably likes him a little more after he shipped some pizzas over to the reporters as they worked. University of Nevada-Reno fans love him so much they all were "Kaepernicking" at the Wolf Pack's basketball game this week. And there's another group that loves the young quarterback: Las Vegas sports books.

William Hill Race & Sports Book released their Super Bowl proposition bets on Friday morning. The Super Bowl prop bet has become a part of the lure of the NFL's biggest game in Las Vegas, with sports books there offering hundreds of crazy bets, from game-specific bets to goofy things like the length of the national anthem and what color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach. This year, William Hill has more than 400 different Super Bowl bets available, with more to come, and it's going all-in on Kaepernick.

[Related: Tattoo artist lives his dream with Colin Kaepernick as canvas | Photos]

There are 12 proposition bets related to Kaepernick, a number that could swell to about 30 by game time, and there's a chance Kaepernick could take the most prop betting action of any one player in Super Bowl history. Among the bets are if Kaepernick will have more passing attempts than LeBron James has points against Toronto on Sunday, and if Kaepernick will have more touchdown passes than soccer star Lionel Messi scoring goals against Valencia.

Last week the book offered 10 Kaepernick proposition bets in the NFC championship game and those garnered a lot of interest. Kaepernick's popularity in college in the state of Nevada and the 49ers' proximity to northern Nevada doesn't hurt the betting interest in him.

“There has been an absolute landslide of interest on Kaepernick coming to the forefront,” William Hill director of public relations and longtime Vegas oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro said in the book's press release. “We’ll be offering more than 20 props on Kaepernick alone, and I’ll tell you this: Whatever number we wind up with on Kaepernick, it won’t be enough. It’s an outstanding story, and we’ve already seen that people want to put their wagering dollars on him.”

[Related: Niners QB Colin Kaepernick trademarks 'Kaepernicking']

There's the general array of weird and wacky prop bets for the true degenerates out there who are planning to be in Vegas for the Super Bowl, and here's some of the most interesting offered so far:

Russell Erxleben in 1983. (Getty Images)A former NFL kicker has been arrested on charges of operating an illegal Ponzi scheme, one that allegedly defrauded investors of more than $20 million.

Russell Erxleben, a former All-American at Texas and a punter for the New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions, had previously served a federal prison term for securities fraud. In this latest indictment, he's charged with operating a scheme from 2005 to 2009 that encouraged investment in post-World War I German government bonds and artwork allegedly created by French artist Paul Gauguin.

A federal court charged Erxleben with five counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, and one count of securities fraud. The wire fraud and securities counts carry potential terms of 20 years apiece, and the money laundering carries a term of up to 10 years.

Erxleben allegedly used the proceeds from investors to pay himself and other, prior investors, which is the definition of a Ponzi scheme. In 1999, Erxleben had been sentenced to seven years

(USA Today Sports Images)Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo hadn't even slept after Baltimore's AFC championship game win over the Patriots when he started sending emails asking how he could help promote gay rights at the Super Bowl.

According to the New York Times, at 3:40 a.m. on Monday, Ayanbadejo sent emails to Brian Ellner, a marriage-equality advocate, and Michael Skolnik, political director for Russell Simmons, a hip-hop magnate who is a supporter of gay rights and marriage equality.

“Is there anything I can do for marriage equality or anti-bullying over the next couple of weeks to harness this Super Bowl media?” Ayanbadejo wrote, according to the Times.

It's not often a person has the exposure provided by being a player on a Super Bowl team, and now that Ayanbadejo's mission has been made very public, expect him to get a lot of opportunities to discuss his cause.

[Also: Nuggets' Kenneth Faried and his mothers speak out for gay rights]

Ray Horton would have brought Norv Turner to Arizona (Getty Images)

It remains a mystery that eight NFL teams bypassed defensive coordinator Ray Horton for their head coaching vacancy this offseason. Horton is one of the top defensive-minded coaches in the NFL, coordinating an Arizona Cardinals defense that ranked sixth in Football Outsiders' opponent-adjusted metrics in 2012, despite playing with an offense that ranked dead last in total offense, rushing offense and third down percentage, and was 31st in passing and scoring offense.

Horton interviewed for openings with the Cardinals and Cleveland Browns, but those teams, like seven of the eight NFL teams looking for a new head coach, opted to go with offensive-minded head coaches. The Cardinals hired Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, while the Browns went with Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski.

During a radio appearance with "Burns and Gambo" on Arizona Sports 620 on Thursday, Horton said that he had former San Diego Chargers head coach Norv Turner, one of the more well-respected offensive coordinators in the game, was ready to join his coaching staff had he been promoted by the Cardinals.

"Unequivocally," Horton said when asked if he would have landed Turner. "All the way throughout the process.

"His wife, Nancy, wanted to come here. Everybody was aware, I talked to Norv. His wife wanted to come here, they have a daughter in San Diego. They wanted to be close to home. They were excited about the possibility. He had worked with [quarterback] Kevin Kolb at the Senior Bowl."

(USA Today Sports Images)There's a reason Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Darnell Dockett has about 170,000 followers on Twitter. He'll say just about anything at any time. There's not much filter.

Thank goodness there's still someone like him in sports.

"Anybody that knows Darnell Dockett — the real me, not just the football player, not just the guy you see on TV — anyone that knows me personally knows there is never a dull moment in my life," Dockett told XTRA Sports 910 in Phoenix. "I’m always excited. I’m always thinking of the next gimmick, the next trick."

We believe it.

On this radio interview Dockett talked about his Twitter flirting with Katherine Webb during the BCS Championship Game, which hilariously included invitations to Wingstop and a strip club, and how he could have had Miss Alabama/Crimson Tide QB A.J. McCarron's girlfriend/Brent Musburger's crush if he really wanted - but she's not his type.