J.J. McCarthy apparently has a rocket launcher attached to his shoulder

With the rookies now practicing with the veterans this spring, there has been a noticeable difference between Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy and Sam Darnold.

After attending the team's OTA practice session on Tuesday, The Athletic's Alec Lewis shared the following about something that has already separated McCarthy from Darnold.

"McCarthy lasered passes throughout Tuesday’s session. He drilled receiver Lucky Jackson on a dig route over the middle. He hummed a corner route to Jalen Nailor near the sideline. Once, he held his eyes downfield, couldn’t identify an open receiver, rolled to his right like he was in a scramble drill, and hurled a ball downfield toward receiver Trent Sherfield.

Pitching coaches often use the term: 'The ball explodes out of his hand.' The same cliche applies to McCarthy, whose ball spirals so tightly through the air you almost expect flames to flow from behind. He generates his velocity with efficient mechanics and a fluid motion. If anything, the Vikings will have to monitor the torque on his arm."

As for Darnold, Lewis noted that his passes during Tuesday's practice "did not zip through the air the way McCarthy’s did, but [he] placed the ball accurately."

J.J. McCarthy currently QB3 for Minnesota Vikings behind Sam Darnold and Nick Mullens

Despite the extra mustard McCarthy has been putting on his passes, the rookie signal-caller has still been working as the No. 3 quarterback on Minnesota's depth chart this spring, according to FanNation's Will Ragatz on Tuesday.

This really shouldn't come as a significant surprise to anyone, though. McCarthy hasn't even been a member of the Vikings for a full month yet, and even if he's picking up the team's offense well, he still has a long way to go before Minnesota will likely feel comfortable moving him up the depth chart.

Unless something drastically changes, McCarthy is probably going to begin the Vikings' training camp this summer as the team's No. 3 quarterback as well. But once camp starts, he'll also have plenty more opportunities to move up the depth chart before the beginning of the regular season in September

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