CHARLOTTE—There are a lot of things Dave Canales can watch for when he evaluates Xavier Legette.

He can assess how Legette is moving on the field during the first day of Carolina Panthers OTAs as things ramped up to full speed. He can break down how the second-year receiver has advanced in the playbook his sophomore year. He can judge the progress the former first-rounder might have made in his hand-catching, which Legette specifically worked on this offseason.

But Canales' primary touchpoint for his receiver?

A smile.

"When I see him smiling," Canales began on Tuesday of Legette following the first day of OTAs, "I know he's in a good space, and he really has just been enjoying this offseason working hard."

It's not so much that Legette wasn't enjoying his rookie season. He was integrated into the Panthers offense from the beginning and finished with 49 receptions for 497 yards and four touchdowns. But along the way, he lost his smile, particularly regarding a specific part of his game.

According to Pro Football Reference, Legette had seven of the team's 24 drops last year. It was something Legette was aware of as it was happening, often taking on heaps of blame before anyone else could assign it.

"I wouldn't say it was harder than I needed to be," Legette said of taking accountability for those drops, such as in the Philadelphia game. "I mean, I cost us those games."

So he sat down with his receivers coach, Rob Moore and offensive coordinator, Brad Idzik, and watched film of every one of his 84 targets from last season. They assessed what he could have done better or differently, as well as what worked and why. The biggest takeaway was the drops, at which point the focus became on how to fix them.

"Me getting open, that wasn't a problem. It was just honing into to really catching the ball on the drops," Legette explained. "Mainly just trying to catch it more with my hands and letting it get into my body or crossing my eyes."

Tuesday was just the first day of OTAs, the beginning of competition and full-speed work, so there is much still to determine with how Legette's offseason work has translated to this year. Bryce Young targeted Legette several times during drill work and 7-on-7 Tuesday, including one into double coverage when Legette timed the ball perfectly to make a grab that sent the sideline into a frenzy.

"I think you just see the comfortability, that Year 1 and Year 2, again, second year in the system, understanding how the league is, him being able to be healthy, to have an off-season to get through all this stuff, to come back healthy and he put a lot of work in to do that in the offseason that obviously no one sees," Young bragged when discussing Legette.

"But if you're around here and you're around him, you know the work he put in, so just seeing the experience kind of comes to play, and it definitely shows in the confidence, in the production, in practice, taking a lot more of a leadership role too in the wide receiver room. Again, a lot of young guys that are trying to come in and learn the system, and now, Year 2, he's doing a lot of directing out there, you know, we have different formations or different routes. You hear him out there communicating, 'Hey, I'm on, I got this. Hey, I'm off, you're off, you're here. So, you know, you just see him jumping into that role."

One of those young guys he is helping is a fellow first-round receiver, Tetairoa McMillan. Legette revealed on Tuesday he knew the Panthers were drafting McMillan at No. 8 overall well before it happened. That means he's had even more time than fans to imagine an offense with both he and TMac on the field together.

"I mean, sure, we trying to win guys, so I mean any time you can add a masterpiece like that to what we're trying to build, that's great," Legette said. "Oh man, I feel like it's going to be a problem either way. I mean, I wouldn't necessarily say it's a 1 or 2. I feel like it's going to be either side they look at. They're going to have to deal with both sides."

Added Canales, "(Legette) looks big and fast, and I think you know with TMac coming into the room, again, it's just options, it opens things up, and it creates a little bit of balance, where the field doesn't tilt one way or the other, so you have two guys who can make it happen outside and that's a good thing."

Legette addressed his foot injury early on in the offseason, having surgery just before the Super Bowl. He promises he feels fresh and more fluid than at season's end.

Most importantly, though, he feels aware of what went wrong at times. And with a commitment to fixing the drops, refocusing himself, and taking ownership of the unit, there's even more reason to smile.

"I'm feeling pretty good. I feel like I'm trending in the right direction," he said. "My body feeling great. I just want to make this year better than last year. That's my mind focus."