CHARLOTTE -- How much can we truly learn in a preseason? 

Ask players; get varying answers. Some will utter clichéd-filled sentences. Others will roll their eyes saying, "C'mon, man," without actually saying it. 

But this year, there's a twist in Carolina that makes the often inane question even tougher to answer.  

How much can you truly learn in a preseason when the starting quarterback plays a grand total of one series?

"I wish we could've seen more of our quarterback, obviously," head coach Ron Rivera said after Thursday's night's preseason finale. "But this past week we really tried to structure practice where we put him in good situations going against our No. 1 defense constantly." 

Even if the Panthers are pleased with Cam Newton's progress, they're also the first to admit there's no telling how he'll look nine days from now in San Francisco. Anyone pretending to have a clue about how a thrower's shoulder will respond five months removed from surgery is running a fool's errand. Newton has uncorked only a few deep passes the past couple of weeks, and the results have fluctuated from right on target to not even close. Plus, there's the matter of timing with his receivers. And that, depending on who you ask, will or won't be a big deal. 

If there's a silver lining to the situation, it's that Newton's two most important new targets should offer him higher-percentage throws. 

While admitting we shouldn't read too much into the preseason, we can also fairly acknowledge first-round pick Christian McCaffrey appeared as advertised. And perhaps even better. 

Like Newton, injuries severely limited wideout Curtis Samuel, but his one-better-block-away-from-breaking-it kickoff return Thursday night was a brief flash of the kind of spark the second-round pick could possibly provide. 

"I feel really good about what those two guys showed (this preseason)," Rivera said.

"I thought Christian showed tremendous versatility for us during these opportunities to play. He showed that he can run the ball from the backfield, he can get out in space and run routes and catch passes. He showed that he can be a threat.

"Curtis showed his speed, his quickness, his ability to create separation and he can be an exciting player with the ball." 

As much as we don't know about how the upcoming season will play out, the Panthers' starting lineup looks solid on paper. Good enough to reclaim the NFC South – at least. 

"I think we have a good mix of some veteran guys that have been there before that know how things are done, but also some younger guys that bring some juice to the team," tight end Greg Olsen said. "I think that balance is always a fragile one, and I think so far the signs are that we've done a good job of that. 

"I think a lot of it's hard to tell until the games start. But I feel good about us. I believe that we have a chance, we're in a good position to find success and put a good product on the field."

But like every team in every season, the 22 starters that begin the season won't finish it. How the Panthers respond when they hit bumps in the road and who's ready to fill-in when inevitable injuries hit will show us more than anything we've seen the past month. 

"We're ready for the regular season," tight end Ed Dickson said. "We're as good as we're going to get at this point and we're ready to go." How much can we truly learn in a preseason? 

Ask players; get varying answers. Some will utter clichéd-filled sentences. Others will roll their eyes saying, "C'mon, man," without actually saying it. 

But this year, there's a twist in Carolina that makes the often inane question even tougher to answer.  

How much can you truly learn in a preseason when the starting quarterback plays a grand total of one series?

"I wish we could've seen more of our quarterback, obviously," head coach Ron Rivera said after Thursday's night's preseason finale. "But this past week we really tried to structure practice where we put him in good situations going against our No. 1 defense constantly." 

Even if the Panthers are pleased with Cam Newton's progress, they're also the first to admit there's no telling how he'll look nine days from now in San Francisco. Anyone pretending to have a clue about how a thrower's shoulder will respond five months removed from surgery is running a fool's errand. Newton has uncorked only a few deep passes the past couple of weeks, and the results have fluctuated from right on target to not even close. Plus, there's the matter of timing with his receivers. And that, depending on who you ask, will or won't be a big deal. 

If there's a silver lining to the situation, it's that Newton's two most important new targets should offer him higher-percentage throws. 

While admitting we shouldn't read TOO much into the preseason, we can also fairly acknowledge first-round pick Christian McCaffrey appeared as advertised. And perhaps even better. 

Like Newton, injuries severely limited wideout Curtis Samuel, but his one-better-block-away-from-breaking-it kickoff return Thursday night was a brief flash of the kind of spark the second-round pick could possibly provide. 

"I feel really good about what those two guys showed (this preseason)," Rivera said.

"I thought Christian showed tremendous versatility for us during these opportunities to play. He showed that he can run the ball from the backfield, he can get out in space and run routes and catch passes. He showed that he can be a threat.

"Curtis showed his speed, his quickness, his ability to create separation and he can be an exciting player with the ball." 

As much as we don't know about how the upcoming season will play out, the Panthers' starting lineup looks solid on paper. Good enough to reclaim the NFC South – at least. 

"I think we have a good mix of some veteran guys that have been there before that know how things are done, but also some younger guys that bring some juice to the team," tight end Greg Olsen said. "I think that balance is always a fragile one, and I think so far the signs are that we've done a good job of that. 

"I think a lot of it's hard to tell until the games start. But I feel good about us. I believe that we have a chance, we're in a good position to find success and put a good product on the field."

But like every team in every season, the 22 starters that begin the season won't finish it. How the Panthers respond when they hit bumps in the road and who's ready to fill-in when inevitable injuries hit will show us more than anything we've seen the past month. 

"We're ready for the regular season," tight end Ed Dickson said. "We're as good as we're going to get at this point and we're ready to go."