After Solid Rookie Year, Seahawks' AJ Barner Played His Way Into TE1 Conversation

The Seahawks' fourth -round pick put together a solid rookie year at tight end. Where does this leave AJ Barner going into next season?

Jan 5, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) runs the ball against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Two of the Seattle Seahawks' top three tight ends from last season found new homes for 2024. Both Colby Parkinson and Will Dissly left the Seahawks in free agency and felt the pull of Los Angeles.

Dissly ended up with a career year as one of Justin Herbert's favorite targets down the stretch. Parkinson set a new career high in targets while with the Rams. The Seahawks were left with Noah Fant as the lone holdover and were forced to revamp the position group.

They signed Pharaoh Brown in free agency ahead of the season. Then, they selected AJ Barner out of Michigan in the fourth round of the 2024 draft.

Barner didn't exactly light up the stat sheet at Michigan, a primarily running team under Jim Harbaugh. He never reached 250 receiving yards in Ann Arbor or in his previous three seasons with Indiana. In the draft process, he was praised for his willingness to get down-and-dirty in blocking. However, the draft pundits were not high on Barner becoming a prolific pass-catching tight end.

Seattle saw him differently. The Ohio native began the season behind the likes of Fant and Brown but slowly, he worked his way onto the field. He didn't get a single target until Week 3 against the Dolphins. He then earned at least one target in every game for the rest of the season, minus their matchup with the Bears.

On the surface, Barner's receiving numbers still don't pop out at you, with 30 catches for 245 yards. Noah Fant certainly was still the top tight end in the passing game, with 48 catches for 500 yards. However, where Barner's targets were sparse, he made up for it with high efficiency and good timing.

The former Wolverine seemed to make big catches in key moments time after time. In fact, he had just one less first down (18) in 37 targets than Ken Walker III did with 15 more targets. He also hauled in as many contested catches, per Pro Football Focus, as Noah Fant did, with almost half as many targets.

Not only that, but Barner also caught four touchdown passes. The only two players on the team with more receiving touchdowns were star receivers D.K. Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He was the only tight end with any receiving scores until Fant's late score against the Rams in the season finale.

Barner was efficient and effective when featured in the passing game. Geno Smith seemed to trust him more and more as the season went along. Most telling of that trust and efficiency is the fact that Barner led the entire team in passer rating when targeted (119.0). For reference, Fant came in at 85.4.

Of course, tight ends need to do much more than catch a few passes to be considered a quality tight end. The Seahawks want to run the ball and that means blocking from their tight ends. In that area, Barner is superior to Fant. In run blocking, Barner earned a 57.5 PFF grade. Noah Fant came in dead last on the team in run-blocking grades, at 42.3.

At times, tight ends are asked to add extra protection in the passing game against a fierce pass rush. There, too, Barner had the edge 56.8 to 34.5 in pass-blocking grades. Barner never even allowed a single QB pressure, while Fant allowed four.

Note that Barner also earned better blocking grades in both categories than Brown, who Seattle brought in specifically to enhance the blocking effort at the tight end spot.

In short, Barner was very effective in the passing game with limited opportunities while also putting together better blocking grades than either of the other two main tight ends in Seattle.

Among rookie tight ends, Barner exceeded everyone save for Pro Bowler Brock Bowers. He ranked second in touchdowns and overall PFF grade.

Brown is set to be a free agent this offseason, and Fant carries a $13.5 million cap hit in 2025. Barner and practice squad tight end Brady Russell (who ended the season on injured reserve) are the remaining tight ends on the roster.

This begs the question: Should Barner be the new featured tight end? As of now, the answer is yes, by default. Certainly, the Seahawks can (and should) bring in more tight ends via free agency or the draft.

The better question would be, can the coaching staff feel comfortable with Barner as one of the feature tight ends in 2025? Given his efficient success catching passes with positive blocking grades, the answer appears to be yes, even if they bring in another veteran this offseason.

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