'Great Competitor' AJ Barner Emerging as Key Piece in Seattle Seahawks' Offense

Finding his footing in his rookie season, AJ Barner gradually continues to carve out a more significant role by week for the Seahawks.

Sep 30, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner (88) celebrates after catching a touchdown pass against the Detroit Lions in the third quarter at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images / Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

RENTON, Wash. - In an offseason featuring no shortage of changes from a brand new coaching staff to major shakeups on the roster on offense, defense, and special teams, few positions saw more turnover for the Seattle Seahawks than tight end.

Facing significant salary cap hurdles before the start of free agency, the Seahawks released steady veteran Will Dissly in early March as one of several moves to generate financial relief, allowing him to sign with the Chargers in quick order. Only a few weeks later, Colby Parkinson bolted for Los Angeles as well, signing a multi-year deal to join the division rival Rams.

While Seattle brought back athletic pass catching tight end Noah Fant on a two-year deal and did sign journeyman Pharaoh Brown to help fill the void left by Dissly and Parkinson's departure, those defections immediately created an opportunity for a rookie to make an instant impact. After a slow start in August, fourth-round pick AJ Barner has done just that through the first four games, including catching his first career touchdown in Monday's 42-29 loss at Detroit.

Gradually earning more chances as he leans into an ever-growing role in offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb's offense, the first-year play caller has been thrilled by what he's seen from Barner to this point, lauding his work ethic on the practice field that has started to translate to game action.

"AJ is a great competitor. He's got a lot of confidence. He's wildly coachable," Grubb told reporters after Thursday's practice. "He's got the approach that he doesn't know everything, but he's going to work his tail off to try to make the play. So whether it's blocking, catching the football, I really think he's one of those guys that he takes every moment that he has on the field. He never takes it for granted. I feel like he practices the same way, and it shows up on the field. So, no surprise to us that AJ's doing really well."

Following three seasons at Indiana, Barner transferred to Michigan in what has now become a more common intraconference move for college players in the NIL era. A vital piece of the puzzle for the Wolverines' top-ranked rushing attack, his physical presence as a traditional Y-tight end helped the program enjoy a historic season in Ann Arbor, which culminated in beating Grubb's Washington Huskies to hoist the National Championship trophy.

Coming into the NFL, the 6-6, 251-pound Barner had earned a reputation as a stout blocker dating back to his time with the Hoosiers, but he had limited production as a receiver at the college level. During his lone season with the Wolverines, playing in an offense built around the run game, he only caught 22 passes for 249 yards and a single touchdown, providing a seldom-used security blanket for quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

Despite those underwhelming statistics and questions about his all-around game, however, with Grubb as one of the driving forces behind the selection, the Seahawks picked Barner earlier than most draft prognosticators expected in April, investing one of two fourth-round choices to bring him on board to pair with Fant and Brown.

Once he recovered from a hamstring injury that kept him out for a large chunk of OTAs, Barner went to work on the practice field, impressing the coaching staff from the outset. Though he started off slow in the preseason with a bad drop in the exhibition opener, he flashed his underrated athleticism in the second game against the Titans, snagging a quick pass in the flats and tight-roping the sideline to stay in bounds for a 17-yard gain.

Building off a strong finish to August, with Brown recovering from a foot injury that ultimately cost him two games, Barner immediately saw significant snaps as Seattle's second tight end behind Fant and has quietly stepped up as a difference maker for the Seahawks.

Through the first four weeks of the season, Barner has been as good as advertised in the run blocking department, helping Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet combine to rush for 339 yards and seven touchdowns. Per Pro Football Focus, he currently ranks 11th in run blocking grade (65.0) out of 58 qualified tight ends with at least 50 run blocking snaps, which sits ahead of Dissly and Parkinson as well as 49ers star George Kittle.

Obviously, PFF grades are subjective and far from the end all, be all assessing NFL players. But Barner's lateral quickness and tenacity have been easy to notice on film, as he clearly loves the opportunity to mix it up in the trenches as an inline tight end and also has been effective as a move blocker when he climbs to the second level, as his strengths on his scouting report have translated well to the league so far.

Where Barner has surprised, however, has been in the passing game. In an offense featuring star receivers DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba as well as Fant, after not catching any passes in Seattle's first two games, he has come on the last two weeks with quarterback Geno Smith demonstrating increasing trust in the rookie, catching all five of his targets for 40 yards with 34 of those coming after the catch, picking up four first downs, and scoring his first touchdown in the loss at Detroit on a play action bootleg pass.

"I think AJ has grown up in the past two weeks," Smith told reporters after the game. "You can see his confidence growing, and it was great for him to get his first touchdown tonight. I think he’s going to continue to excel and continue to get better. He’s a guy that we’re going to count on, so it was great to see that happen for him.”

Historically, at least at Fresno State and Washington, Grubb didn't use multi-tight end sets near as much as his predecessor Shane Waldron did, often deploying four receiver personnel groupings instead. But so far, the Seahawks have mixed in more 12 personnel than expected at nearly a 20 percent rate, ranking inside the top 20 teams in the NFL through four weeks.

Given the struggles Seattle has endured along the offensive line, which currently ranks 30th in ESPN's Run Block Win Rate metric (67 percent), Grubb understands the value of plugging quality blocking tight ends into the equation to help create running room for Walker and Charbonnet. For this reason alone, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Barner and Brown saw the field more together on Monday night, providing two capable inline blockers to spark the ground attack.

On that merit alone, Barner stands to benefit from a playing time perspective, as he has lived up to the billing as a blue collar blocker early in his rookie season to go with special teams duties. Add in his unexpected receiving contributions thus far paired with a budding chemistry with Smith, and the Seahawks may very well have hit on a day three jackpot landing the all-around standout tight end they have been seeking for quite some time.