SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Here are five observations from the Panthers training camp:

	Julius Peppers, right, goes up against Wesley Walls during practice.

1. Since he has been battling headaches and a possible concussion, and only returned to the practice field Wednesday for the first time in five days, it is difficult to get a solid read on first-round draft choice Julius Peppers. The former North Carolina star, though, will definitely start at left defensive end and, given rookie head coach John Fox's background as a coordinator, look for Peppers to get some snaps at linebacker as well. Peppers worked in one-on-one and individual drills on Wednesday, should return for the "team" segments on Thursday, and is expected to play in the preseason opener this weekend. It's hard to miss the quickness Peppers possesses and the Carolina coaches seem confident that he can be the kind of impact defender Jevon Kearse was for Tennessee as a rookie. "He's going to be a 'difference maker,' no doubt," Fox said. One notable shortcoming, obvious even in the Wednesday drills, is that Peppers still must learn to use his hands better. He got by in college with quickness, superior athleticism and raw upfield explosiveness. Those commodities are essential in the NFL, of course, but technique is mandatory, and Peppers will need some work in that area. Fox noted that Peppers was getting better at using his hands ("I'd say above average," he said), but that the five days off caused some slippage. Peppers is good enough to beat the bad tackles off the edge, but has to get better if he's going to dominate the top blockers. It will be interesting to see how creative Fox and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio get with their prized rookie.

2. Most longtime assistants who aspire to become a head coach characteristically compile a list of guys they would like to have on their staff. We don't know if Fox got everyone that he wanted, but his staff is an impressive one, a terrific mix of longtime aides and guys on the rise. Offensive coordinator Dan Henning has always gotten good results with his design and, while the blueprint is so dramatically different from the West Coast style Carolina used in recent seasons that there could be a painful breaking-in period, the Panthers will be far sounder and clearer in what they're trying to accomplish. Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio figures to be a head coach in the league someday. Special teams chief Scott O'Brien, one of several holdovers from the George Seifert staff, is regarded as one of the league's best in his area of expertise. Other standouts, some of whom we have known for years, reputations are well known to us: Paul Boudreau (offensive line), Don Breaux (tight end), Jerry Simmons (strength and conditioning), Jim Skipper (backs), Mike Trgovac (defensive line) and Richard Williamson (receivers). And there's an old friend, Sal Sunseri (linebackers), on the staff as well. Showing my age, I coached against Sunseri when he was in junior high school, before he went on to have standout careers at Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School and the University of Pittsburgh.

3. The Carolina passing attack, which averaged a league-worst 4.72 yards per attempt in 2001, certainly needs to get more vertical this season and it appears that the player being counted on to provide much-needed stretch is Steve Smith. The second-year veteran was selected for the Pro Bowl in his rookie year as a special teams player, having scored three times on kickoff or punt returns, but he caught only 10 passes in '01 and wasn't exposed much at all to the wide receiver position. Not so in this camp, where Smith has worked principally with the first unit, and is vying with Isaac Byrd for the starting spot opposite productive possession receiver Muhsin Muhammad. "I don't know how we haven't worn him down, because we've asked him to do a lot, what with all the returns duties," said Henning. "But he's got great endurance, and has shown flashes of brilliance, and we sure need a guy like him." It doesn't appear that Patrick Jeffers, who had a breakout season in 1999 and has had four knee surgeries and only 19 receptions since then, will return any time soon. If he isn't back in time for the start of the regular season, the Panthers could have real problems with depth. Smith averaged 20.6 yards per catch in two seasons at Utah and averaged a touchdown every 6.5 receptions. The Panthers don't need numbers quite that gaudy. They do need Smith to keep secondaries honest, to make the occasional big catch, and to keep opponents from consistently double-teaming Muhammad.

4. The team signed five veteran free agent cornerbacks -- Terry Cousin, DeRon Jenkins, Fred Vinson, Cordell Taylor and Steve Israel -- in the spring. It selected two cornerbacks, Dante Wesley and Brad Franklin, in the draft. And still the position is lacking. For salary-cap reasons the Panthers released both of last year's starters, Jimmy Hitchcock and Doug Evans, at the outset of the free-agency period. Former first-round pick Rashard Anderson, counted on as a starter, is serving a league-imposed year long suspension for violations of the NFL substance abuse policy. So who is going to play on the corners? It seems, at least for now, that Cousin, who the Panthers signed with the intention of playing him as their "nickel" defender, has claimed one of the starting spots. The favorite to win the other spot is third-year veteran Reggie Howard, a player claimed on waivers in 2000, but Jenkins is still in the picture. The interior secondary starters seem set, with Deon Grant at free safety and Mike Minter at strong safety, but nothing is etched in stone. The knock on Grant is that he has never been a very physical player, and he's going to have to step up in that regard to retain his job, especially for this coaching staff. If he doesn't Fox could move Minter to free safety, a position he has played in the past, and insert solid hitter Damien Richardson into the lineup at strong safety. "(Grant) is a huge factor for us," Fox said. "He's got to get (more physical) for us. He's not there yet but he's improved." Bottom line is that a Carolina secondary that statistically ranked No. 28 in the NFL in 2001, and which surrendered 25 touchdown passes, is still an area of concern.

5. For too many years the Panthers sought the quick fix, signed big-name players to big contracts even though they were in decline, and paid the salary-cap consequences when guys like Chuck Smith, Reggie White and Eric Swann didn't work out. General manager Marty Hurney is getting the problem under control, alas for the future, and the Panthers will now build through the draft instead of free agency. The 2001 draft figures to produce four starters for this season. And this year's lottery should add at least two or three more starters. "We can't afford to miss on too many guys, because you can only fill so many holes in a given year, and we know that," Fox said. Building through the draft isn't a novel idea many places, but it is for Carolina, and the initial results are encouraging. Two guys to watch this year, in addition to Peppers, are second-round tailback DeShaun Foster and third-round weakside linebacker Will Witherspoon. The former should ease his way into the starting lineup by mid-season and the latter, while undersized, is very athletic.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.