CHARLOTTE — Training camp has officially come to an end and the Panthers have their last preseason game on deck. Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers are coming to town for the Thursday night matchup. The score of the game might not matter, and the Panthers' starters aren't playing, but roster cut down day looming, this final preseason game is the last chance for coaches to see players on the field before making some tough decisions.

As such, Dave Canales and the Panthers have challenged those suiting up Thursday night to take a roster spot with their play.

"Go win, show us a win, show us that we can count on you," Canales said Tuesday. "And this is not just for the roster, but we're talking about the practice squad as well.

"These are high stakes moments for these guys. Every practice and especially every preseason game, these are the only opportunities that we get, so I'm really excited to see who elevates, who steps up and shows us something."

With that in mind, here are five things to watch in the Panthers final preseason game against the Steelers.

The backup QB competition

Neither Bryce Young nor Andy Dalton will play Thursday night, leaving the entire game to incumbent third-string passer Jack Plummer and the newly signed Bryce Perkins, who arrived Monday. Plummer has spent the past year with the Panthers, working as the practice squad quarterback, and appearing in the first two preseason games this year. During that time, he went 16-24 for 162 yards and two interceptions, with no touchdowns.

Perkins is coming off of an MVP season in the UFL, during which he took the Michigan Panthers to the championship game. He provides the Panthers with an extra arm, since starters aren't paying against the Steelers and Dalton suffered an elbow injury versus the Texans; Dalton practiced and is healthy, but that status wasn't known until Tuesday.

Thursday is essentially an audition for both guys, for both the Panthers as that practice squad passer, and the other 31 teams. They will get a chance to show their mental understanding of the game as well as the athletic, facing a Mike Tomlin defense, which is famous for being one of the toughest to face.

The final kicking showdown

The Panthers have carried the kicking competition throughout the offseason and training camp. It will presumably come its culmination on Thursday night. Canales told reporters this week that both veteran Matthew Wright and rookie Ryan Fitzgerald will handle field goals and kickoffs against the Steelers, trading off as they have all preseason.

Through the first two preseason games, Fitzgerald has hit his two field goal attempts, from 32 yards and 52 yards respectively. Wright has tried only one field goal, from 55 yards, but it was no good.

Fitzgerald has averaged 56 yards on his two kickoffs, while Wright has averaged 60.67 yards on his three kickoffs.

The Panthers will cut the roster down to 53 guys next Tuesday, giving both kickers one final chance on Thursday night to earn the job.

One more look at bubble guys

Since starters aren't playing, the rest of the roster will have more opportunity to show why they are helpful to their position units. A few particular units to keep an eye on: wide receiver, pass-rusher, and defensive back.

The receiving corps is famously deep this offseason, with playmakers across the board that offer a lot of different skill sets. For those playing, this is a chance to set themselves apart with a bigger share of the snaps, making highlight plays, yes, but also consistent plays. The latter is what Canales asked for on Tuesday, explaining it's what he wanted to see from guys like Brycen Tremayne, who had one of the better receiver performances against the Texans.

"The evaluation now is consistency, you know, can he continue to do it," challenged Canales. "Can you do it one more time, can we count on him for weeks on end? That's really the challenge for him; he's doing a great job."

Jalen Coker will also play, after missing last week with an illness.

At pass rusher, rookie Nic Scourton will sit out this week as he contiunes to recover from a collapsed lung that came on a hard hit during the Houston joint practice. It gives fellow rookie Princely Umanmielen more snaps and packages on the field to earn playing time heading into the season, as well as guys like Thomas Incoom, Boogie Basham and J.J. Weaver to prove they can provide quality depth.

The same is true with the defensive backs, particularly corner where a battle for depth rotation has broken out with Corey Thornton, Shemar Bartholomew, and Akayleb Evans.

Who shows up on special teams

Proving oneself capable as a depth player in respective position groups is only half the battle. As Canales pointed out Tuesday, there are practice squad spots available as well, and those are the guys called up during the season. When that happens, they'll be playing the bulk of their snaps on special teams.

So it's on special teams that coaches are asking players to "show us you want to make this team," this week.

"Big picture wise, it's like who can cover kicks, who can make tackles, who can block guys in the return game and kickoff return or punt return? Those are the things to me that I just can't say enough about the special teams value that players bring," Canales explained.

"We're not going to call up a guy who can't play on teams because it's not worth it. They're not getting called up—typically sometimes—but typically they're not getting called up to start on offense or defense. They're getting called up to be a depth player available for when someone bust a shoelace and you got to go in really quick. But they're mostly there, they got to be on the coverage units, they got to be on the return units.

"So, are these guys that we can count on who have the physical aggressive nature but also understand what we're doing, and that's what these opportunities are about."

Coaching decisions

As a developmentally minded program, the Panthers had coordinator Brad Idzik call the offensive pays the first two weeks of the preseason, and defensive passing game coordinator Jonathan Cooley and linebackers coach Pete Hansen call the other side of the ball in preseason Week 1 and Week 2 respectively.

With the final preseason game on deck though, Canales and defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero are taking back the controls to shake off their own rust before the regular season begins.

As such, don't be surprised to see a few more "coaching decisions" arise in game, such as challenges, working the clock in two-minute drills, and more. This was something Canales did last preseason as well, as he worked to become more comfortable with that part of the game. With a year under his belt as both the play caller and head coach, there isn't as much a need for a crash course in those areas of the game, but Thursday is a good opportunity to familiarize himself with that aspect of the game before Week 1.