Special Teams coverage must improve – The Panthers’ kick and punt coverage picked up where it left off last season – horrible. It stunk the joint out against the Houston Texans, with one return being a 90 yard TD. They gave up way too much yardage on average on the others as well. When you’ve got a young team going through growing pains, it can be quite deflating to lead a long, arduous TD drive…only to see the other team negate that effort completely in ten seconds. Young players are especially susceptible to emotional highs and lows, so stopping big plays of ANY kind is likely very high on the list of priorities for Ron Rivera & company.

The defensive line has to show SOME progress – DT Ron Edwards is back off an injury this year, but even when he was in there, the Panthers couldn’t stop the run in between the 20′s. The good news is that it stiffened at the goal line, but that’s as much due to Kuechly’s veteran-like play than it was the line standing up to the blocks, plus Jon Beason didn’t play. Sione Fua did manage to string together a few good plays, and that’s a start though. It might be that Edwards has some rust to shake off, but he can’t really do it all alone. At least one of the several young tackles the Panthers have needs to step up. The good news is, they’ve got some young bodies. The bad news? Nobody’s stepped up to be consistent. Yet. The other thing is that the Texans have a very good offense and two very good running backs in Arian Foster and Ben Tate, so they’re going to cause most teams some problems. A bit of a trial by fire the first game for the Panthers’ defense; the Dolphins are considerably less evolved there so it _should_ be harder for them to move the ball but they’ve got a pretty good offensive line and a lot of depth at running back.

The pass rush is just not there – We know that veteran DE Charles Johnson is up to the job. He’s proven it year in and year out. However, Frank Alexander, the team’s 4th-rounder that they traded up for, didn’t show anything as far as that goes. I wouldn’t read too much into this yet because it’s the first game ever in the NFL for him, and he did play pretty well against the run, but so far Johnson is the only player Rivera can count on to generate pressure. One guy just isn’t enough.

The secondary needs to step up – Again, it’s early, and we knew coming in the Panthers group of defensive backs lacks talent beyond CB Chris Gamble. Perhaps that’s too strong, since there are a number of youngsters on the squad. A couple of those young players need to start showing some coverage or ball-hawking skills. The Panther team did show some signs that they’ll be causing more turnovers this fall but the Texans moved the ball both in the air and on the ground too easily. The secondary is where I’ll be paying special attention to in their next preseason game. Let’s hope the unit shows some slow but steady improvement through week 4.

The game against the Dolphins should show exactly where the team stands. The Dolphins have probably the least-experienced group of WRs in the entire NFL, so limiting big gains against that team would be a good sign that they’re not blowing assignments or losing people in traffic. Should the Dolphins move the ball in the air at will, either Ryan Tannehill really might be a stud and game-one starter or the Panthers’ secondary is that bad. When Miami QB Matt Moore is in the game, it should be a better barometer.

Amini Silatolu’s pass blocking is a work in progress – He showed his huge motor in last weekend’s Texans game, sometimes finding two different guys to block and the kid is a LOAD. The flip side is his pass-blocking is still well below par if you’ll recall Cam Newton’s sack inside the 5 yard line. Keep watch on the LG spot while he’s in there and see if he’s more solid this game than the last one or if he’s still missing some assignments. I have to think a lot of it is just that he’s from a small school and still steep on the learning curve, but watch for his progress and compare his play in the last game with this one.

With so many substitutions in early preseason games, it can often be hard to keep track of who is in on any given play. Make note of the jersey numbers and you can tell if the player you want to look for is in there or not. And then hope you hear the announcer calling his name for making a good play.

In the first series, the Texans easily moved the ball down the field, having a first and goal inside the 5 yard line. Kuechly made 4 tackles on that series, two of them being great run-stuffing tackles on their goal-line stand, forcing the Texans to settle for a field goal.

On the next series, Kuechly stripped RB Arian Foster of the ball around midfield while teammate Sherrod Martin recovered it.

Doing the math, Kuechly was the driving force behind the defense on 5 of his first 9 plays as a pro. He started at the MLB spot that I had thought he’d start at when he was drafted, but Jon Beason had been playing the position during camp with Kuechly playing the weakside linebacker.

Since it’s the first preseason game, I wouldn’t read anything into him starting at MLB.

It may be that coach Rivera wanted to get some snaps under the young man’s belt in his first game from his “natural” position where he’s comfortable whereas Beason has played both positions in the past. It could be that Rivera simply wanted to rest Beason in the contest so that younger players could get more snaps as well. There have been a lot of changes with the injuries last year so it makes sense that the coaches wanted to try different combinations and get more looks at them now.

It’s not a secret that Beason, a 3-time Pro Bowler, will be in the starting lineup come opening day.

It also appears that Kuechly, never exactly a secret himself, has put the league on notice that he has arrived, too.

#1 – Jon Beason – Beason is the top Panther player to watch in this particular game because of his return from a season-ending Achilles tendon tear in game one of last year. Don’t confuse an Achilles tear with an ACL/MCL tear as they are two completely different animals as far as the recovery process goes. Athletes often lose a step after an Achilles injury, so keep an eye on the MLB to see if he still has the range and speed he had before the injury.

#2 – Luke Kuechly – No matter how his name is spelled on his jersey, fans will certainly be able to spot him at the weakside linebacker position. He was Boston College’s all-time leading tackler with 532 and was approaching the NCAA all-time record held by Northwestern’s Tim McGarigle with 545 but the lack of a bowl bid for BC ended his chances. He also has great hands for a linebacker with 7 career interceptions and made an over-the-shoulder interception of teammate Cam Newton in camp, proving the college statistics weren’t a fluke. The only thing coaches, teammates and fans alike want to see is how well he can rush the passer, so watch him on second and third and long and on any plays that he may be blitzing on.

#3 – Joe Adams – The fourth-round pick from Arkansas is expected to return punts and/or kickoffs and was an electrifying punt returner at Arkansas. His 60-yard punt return against Tennessee last year is arguably the top highlight play of the entire season anywhere, so it should be fun to watch him and see how he does in a real game. Also watch for him as a slot receiver in the offense as he brings sub-4.4 speed and eye-popping change of direction skills to the field.

#4 – Amini Silatolu – I LOVE this guy! He played LT at tiny Midwestern State and completely dominated. He lacks the lateral agility needed to consistently block some of the better speed-rushers but his game is tailor-made as an NFL guard. I’ve said from the beginning that he’s a NASTY run-blocker who attacks his assignment as if the other guy just made questionable statements about his mother. He hits VERY hard, engages pretty well, and finishes through the whistle. While he still needs to hone his pass-protection skills some more, I can name you two teammates that I’m sure already adore the guy: DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.

#5 – the defensive tackles – Ron Edwards missed his entire first season as a Panther in 2011 with a torn triceps. 2011 rookies Sione Fua and Terrell McClain both landed on IR in the second half of the season as well, and with the injuries to the Panthers’ front seven last season, the need to improve their rush defense is of paramount importance this season. The initial preseason game against the Texans should provide immediate feedback to coaches as to how well or how poorly things are progressing. Look for the starters on both sides to play the first quarter, and if the Panthers can keep the likes of Arian Foster or Ben Tate corralled, it’ll be a sign that the middle isn’t the easy track to the endzone for offenses.

As such, there are still a lot of things Panthers’ Head Coach Ron Rivera needs to see progress with. Will Beason be the player Pro bowl-caliber player he was in 2010 and before? Will 181-pound Joe Adams be able to do much in the offense as a receiver? Has Luke Kuechly learned enough tools to be a competent pass-rusher?

Not all the questions will be answered tonight, but the picture should begin to clear a bit. The game is on the NFL Network and “locals” to the Charlotte area should check their Fox affiliate for the game.

We won’t have to wait long. The future begins to take shape tonight.